£*•«,  s 


MLO* 


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X'* 


MEMORIES, 


COUNSELS,  AND  REFLECTIONS. 


BY    AN    OCTOGENARY. 


ADDEESSED  TO  HIS  CHILDREN  AND  DESCENDANTS, 
AND  PRINTED  FOR  THEIR  USE. 


'.--- 


• 


'  The  father  to  the  chUdren  shall  make  known  thy  truth."  —  Is.  xxxriii.  19. 


CAMBRIDGE: 
METCALF     AND     COMPANY, 

PRINTERS  TO  THE    UNIVERSITY. 

1857. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

SERMON  FIRST  .  1 

SERMON  SECOND   21 


NOTES     TO    SERMONS. 

I.  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 45 

II.  ECCLESIASTICAL  INTOLERANCE     ....  65 

III.  ACKNOWLEDGMENT 84 

IV.  SATAN  A  PERSON 86 

V.  CREED 93 

VI.  GENEALOGIES 95 

VII.  REMINISCENCES  OF  LEBANON  .  104 


ERRATA 


Page  3,  for  ELIZABETH  P.  SESSIONS,  read  ELIZABETH  HUNTINGTON  SESSIONS. 
"    54,  line  6,  far  Rollins,  read  Collins. 


SERMON  FIRST. 


HADLEY,  October  11,  1857. 

MY  DEAR  CHILDREN  :  — 

The  history  of  what  I  have  here  to  say  is  briefly 
this.  Some  of  your  number  sent  me  a  nice  portfolio, 
with  paper  in  one  of  the  pockets,  designed  as  a  birth- 
day present.  What  I  wrote  upon  that  paper  I  in- 
tended for  them  and  theirs,  as  a  birthday  present  in 
return. 

It  was  a  sermon  which  I  intended  to  have  ready  for 
them  October  11,  1854.  During  that  period,  I  found 
that  the  date  would  be  the  beginning,  and  not  the 
close,  of  my  eightieth  year,  as  I  intended  it  should 
be,  and  that  a  more  appropriate  discourse  for  the 
occasion  might  be  provided,  with  a  different  date, 
and  from  another  text. 

The  text  which  I  have  now  selected  is,  "  I  am  this 
day  fourscore  years  old,"  —  the  words  of  BARZILLAI  to 
DAVID,  2  Samuel  xix.  35. 

What  I  have  to  say  from  the  passage  is  sermon- 
wise,  though  it  is  many  years  since  I  have  written  a 


2  SERMON    FIRST. 

sermon  entire ;  and  it  is  leading  me,  I  perceive,  to 
be  somewhat  egotistical.  It  is  necessarily  so.  The 
first  word  of  the  text,  being  the  first  person  of  the 
personal  pronoun,  gives  a  personal  interest  in  what 
follows.  Appropriating  to  myself  the  words  of  the 
text,  therefore,  much  of  what  I  have  to  say  from  it 
is  unavoidably  autobiography.  This  may  seem  to 
require  an  apology.  If  what  I  shall  write  is  un- 
worthy of  the  notice  of  my  children,  it  is  vainglory. 
If  old  age  is,  however,  a  blessing,  there  must  be 
many  things,  in  the  probation  of  an  octogenary  hav- 
ing lived  as  he  ought,  worthy  the  attention  of  those 
who  are  following  on.  His  experience  places  him  on 
an  elevation  favorable  to  reflection  and  observation. 
You  will  excuse  me,  then,  if  I  repeat  the  text :  "  I 
am  this  day  fourscore  years  old." 

It  is  a  great  age,  we  are  ready  to  say ;  but  many 
live  to  a  still  greater.  "  I  am  fourscore  " :  my  father 
lived  till  he  was  fourscore  and  four :  his  father  lived 
till  he  was  fourscore  and  fourteen.  Of  the  six  chil- 
dren of  my  father's  family,  three  were  living  when 
I  began  this  sermon,  of  whom  I  am  the  youngest. 
Their  average  age  was  eighty-four ;  the  total  was  two 
hundred  and  fifty-two.  The  ages  of  these  and  other 
relatives,  living  at  the  same  time,  contemporary  with 
and  including  myself  and  my  children,  and  their  par- 
ents by  marriage,  are  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  years.  Whether  their  and  our  number  be  greater 
or  less,  our  lives  longer  or  shorter,  be  it  the  great 
truth  ever  to  be  realized,  that  our  responsibilities  are 
according  to  our  privileges,  and  that  of  those  to 
whom  much  is  given,  much  must  be  required. 


SERMON    FIRST. 


As  to  family  relations,  further  extended,  within  my 
personal  knowledge,  I  find  myself  on  the  dividing 
point  of  two  extremes;  my  grandfather,  Deacon 
SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON,  in  the  retrospective,  and  a 
great-granddaughter,  ELIZABETH  P.  SESSIONS,  in  the 
prospective.  My  grandfather  was  ninety-four  years 
old  when  he  died,  and  eighty-four  when  I  was  born, 
living,  of  course,  ten  years  after  my  birth.  Being 
myself  born  1774,  he  must  have  been  born  1690. 
If  the  length  of  time  between  his  birth  and  his 
grandfather's  had  been  the  same,  that  grandfather  of 
his  would  have  been  ten  years  old  at  the  time  of  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth,  1620.  If  the 
great-grandchild,  spoken  of  in  the  other  extreme, 
should  live  as  long  as  I  have,  she  might  be  able  to 
say  then,  as  I  do  now,  "  I  am  this  day  fourscore  years 
old,"  and  might  be  able,  with  the  telescope  here  pre- 
sented her,  to  go  back  very  directly  to  the  first  settle- 
ment of  New  England,  with  innumerable  intervening 
and  interesting  events,  some  of  more,  others  of  less 
importance,  embracing  a  lapse  of  time  between  us  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  years. 

If  the  population  of  our  country,  at  the  time  of 
iny  birth,  was  three  millions,  and  is  now  ten  times 
that  number,  which  is  not  far  from  the  truth,  when 
ELIZABETH  P.  SESSIONS  becomes  an  octogenary,  if  she 
ever  does,  by  the  same  ratio  of  increase  the  number 
of  inhabitants  will  be  three  hundred  millions.  This, 
though  in  part  hypothetical,  is  not  entirely  visionary. 

To  come  now  to  the  positive,  I  repeat  the  text :  "  1 
am  this  day,"  October  llth,  1855,  "fourscore  years 


•i  SERMON    FIRST.   • 

old."  A  long  life  indeed  ;  and  yet,  in  the  words  of 
another,  — 

"  How  short  it  seems 
Since  I  was  but  a  sportive  child, 
Enjoying  childish  dreams." 

"  O,  I  am  glad  I  'm  growing  old ; 

For  ever)'  day  I  spend 
Shall  bring  me  one  day  nearer  that 
Bright  day  that  has  no  end." 

A  long  life ;  and  the  text  now  calls  us  to  a  brief  re- 
view. 

The  first  event  of  my  life,  with  which,  of  course, 
I  have  been  made  acquainted  by  others,  was  my  dedi- 
cation in  baptism,  under  the  ministry  of  the  venerable 
SOLOMON  WILLIAMS,  D.  D.,  in  Lebanon,  Connecticut, 
for  which  ordinance  I  have  ever  entertained  the  high- 
est reverence. 

Nearly  contemporary  with  my  birthday  was  the 
commencement  of  the  political  existence  of  my  coun- 
try. I  was  born  in  the  reign  of  George  III.,  King 
of  England,  and  continued  a  year  or  two,  if  not  a 
quiet,  doubtless  a  loyal  subject. 

The  cause  of  the  Revolution  I  need  not  dwell 
upon.  The  Colonies  had  long  considered  themselves 
an  oppressed  and  injured  people.  They  remonstrated 
in  vain  for  a  redress  of  their  wrongs.  Not  finding 
it,  they  erected  their  standard  for  Independence  and 
Liberty,  July  4th,  1776.  Under  the  smiles  of  a  pro- 
pitious Providence,  they  found  what  they  sought. 
They  did  not  rise,  like  the  fabled  Phoenix,  from  their 
own  ashes,  nor  were  they  the  decayed  branches  from 


SERMON    FIRST.  5 

a  feeble  stock  ;  but  more  like  the  mistletoe,  with  its 
flourishing. boughs,  and  designed  to  thrive  upon  its  in- 
trinsic vigor.  From  that  time  to  the  present,  the 
government  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  has 
been  a  government  of  their  own  framing,  under  the 
auspices  of  Liberty  and  Law.  It  was  considered, 
from  its  origin,  an  experiment,  and  has  hitherto 
been  thought  admirably  successful. 

A  race  of  Nature's  noblemen,  in  Church  and  State, 
was  raised  up  apparently  for  the  work  in  review 
before  us ;  a  constellation  of  genius  and  moral  worth 
and  weight  of  character,  such  as  has  seldom  been 
seen,  before  or  since,  in  this  or  any  other  country.  I 
remember  many  of  the  number  well.  Governor 
TRUMBULL,  of  Connecticut,  —  Brother  Jonathan,  the 
original  of  the  Yankee  sobriquet,  —  the  confidential 
friend  and  counsellor  of  Washington,  was  one  of 
them,  a  venerable  townsman,  whose  presence  I  shall 
never  forget.  Nor  shall  I  ever  forget  the  sobs  and 
sighs  and  tears  of  my  school-fellows,  at  the  old  brick 
school  on  the  green  in  Lebanon,  at  the  ringing  of 
the  alarm  bell  summoning  the  fathers  and  the  broth- 
ers of  those  at  school  to  the  burning  of  New  London 
by  the  Regulars,  about  twenty  miles  distant.  My 
father,  with  the  company  of  militia  which  he  com- 
manded at  that  time,  was  among  the  number ;  and 
while  he  was  absent,  we  saw  at  home  the  smoke  of 
the  conflagration,  not  knowing  but  he  and  they  were 
among  the  wounded  and  the  dying. 

This  was  but  one  of  the  notable  scenes  enacted  on 
the  stage  of  the  fourscore  years  of  the  text.  Such 


6  SERMON    FIRST. 

were  the  common  events  of  the  country.  I  was  born 
in  the  midst  of  its  bloodshed  and  battles ;  and  I 
know  not  if  I  thought  it  would  ever  be  otherwise. 
Carnage  and  slaughter  made  the  common  news  of 
the  day.  The  first  questions  among  neighbors,  as 
they  met  in  the  streets  and  in  each  other's  houses, 
were,  "  What  news  from  head-quarters  ?  Has  there 
been  fighting  of  late  ?  How  many  were  killed  I 
Who  were  they  1  On  which  side  was  the  victory  1 " 
Such  was  the  dreadful  routine  from  day  to  day,  from 
month  to  month,  and  from  year  to  year.  At  length 
came  the  tidings  of  peace.  Peace,  peace !  was  the  ju- 
bilee, from  the  highways  and  house-tops  and  firesides, 
from  Province  to  Province  through  the  land.  Roused 
from  a  comfortable  nap  in  the  chimney-corner  to 
partake  in  the  general  joy,  not  knowing  what  it  all 
meant,  I  sought  relief,  as  soon  as  possible,  by  return- 
ing to  the  quietude  in  which  the  uproar  found  me. 

From  this  time  we  began  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of 
the  independence  not  yet  achieved.  And  oh!  how 
great  the  change  !  It  was  felt  in  every  bosom,  and 
every  department  of  life. 

Having  accomplished  the  work  assigned,  the  army 
was  disbanded,  and  its  soldiers  returned  to  their 
homes,  not  laden  with  the  spoils  of  victory,  but  elated 
with  hope,  and  not  the  less  heartily  welcomed  by  the 
benedictions  of  their  friends.  How  much  they  were 
venerated  as  heroes,  —  almost  as  much  as  a  higher 
race  of  beings, — was  shown  by  the  boy  who  had 
heard  that  General  WASHINGTON  was  to  pass  that 
way,  and  went  out  to  meet  him,  as  he  supposed,  at 


SERMON    FIRST.  7 

the  head  of  his  army.  Instead  of  that,  he  met  a 
man  alone,  on  horseback,  of  whom  he  inquired  if 
General  WASHINGTON  was  coming.  The  General 
replied,  "  I  am  the  man"  In  astonishment,  the  boy, 
not  knowing  what  to  do  or  say,  pulled  off  his  hat, 
and  with  great  violence  threw  it  at  the  feet  of  the 
horse,  running  back  at  the  same  time,  at  full  speed, 
and  crying  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  God  Almighty 
bless  your  Majesty ! " 

But  what  is  to  be  done  ?  The  war  is  over.  The 
work,  after  a  ten  years'  conflict,  is  accomplished  ;  but 
at  a  great  sacrifice  of  blood  and  treasure.  The  sol- 
dier is  at  home  again,  and  with  his  family  around 
him ;  but  covered  with  scars  and  wounds,  half  starved 
and  half  naked,  without  cash  or  credit :  no  loan  of- 
fice, and  no  bank.  He  has  soldiers^  notes,  but  who 
wants  them1?  The  country  is  rich  in  its  victory; 
flush  in  its  paper ;  but  poor  in  purse.  The  derange- 
ment of  all  regular  business,  the  depreciation  of  con- 
tinental currency,  and  the  prostration  of  trade,  make 
"  hard  times." 

But,  the  fire  of  patriotism  burning  in  their  bosoms, 
the  virtues  and  intellectual  resources  of  those  who 
fought  their  battles  and  guided  their  counsels  still 
continued  ;  and,  with  here  and  there  a  few  to  animate 
them  by  their  presence,  enterprise  is  again  awakened 
in  every  department  of  life.  The  ploughman  is  in 
the  field,  the  artisan  in  his  office,  the  manufacturer 
at  his  workshop,  and  the  hands  of  the  wife  and  daugh- 
ter are  at  the  distaff  and  the  spindle.  The  immediate 
wants  of  the  laborer  are  again  provided  for.  The 


8  SERMON     FIRST. 

question,  What  is  to  be  done  1  then,  need  no  more 
be  asked.  What  has  taken  place  within  the  range 
of  our  observation,  during  the  fourscore  years  just 
passed,  is  now  history,  read  and  taught  in  our  pri- 
mary schools  and  colleges.  The  mystery  is  unfolded. 
General  enterprise  is  on  the  wing.  The  miracle  is 
wrought.  We  were  "  cast  down,  not  destroyed." 
The  wheels  of  industry  and  art  are  again  rolling  in 
prosperity  and  independence.  A  new  epoch  has 
commenced.  We  have  a  constitution  and  a  govern- 
ment of  our  own.  "  I  am  this  day  fourscore  years 
old"  and,  by  the  good-will  of  our  God,  have  seen  our 
beloved  country  rising  from  oppression  and  poverty 
to  high  distinction  among  the  nations,  with  peace  in 
our  borders,  and  plenty  in  our  habitations.  "  Happy 
art  thou,  O  Israel !  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  people  ? 
saved  of  the  Lord,  the  shield  of  thy  help,  and  the  sword 
of  thy  excellency."  And  happy  may  it  be  for  us  if 
the  plague-spots  that  remain  of  violence  and  wrong,  of 
sensuality  and  sin,  of  oppression  and  misery,  may  be 
wiped  from  our  skirts.  Not  only  in  military  prowess 
and  in  political  skill  has  God  shown  himself  merci- 
ful in  our  day,  but  more  abundantly  in  the  arts  and 
sciences  that  adorn  and  advance  civilized  society. 

The  light  which  our  ancestors  had  brought  with 
them  had  continued  to  shine,  and  gradually  increased ; 
but  during  our  Revolutionary  troubles,  O  how  ob- 
scured !  We  had  our  poets  and  our  painters,  our 
statuaries  and  architects,  our  philosophers  and  profes- 
sors, those  distinguished  in  the  learned  professions, 
those  who  were  eminent  in  their  day  in  our  courts  of 


SERMON    FIRST.  9 

justice,  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation;  but  our  com- 
mon-school education  was  at  a  low  ebb.  Our  col- 
leges and  academies  were  in  their  infancy ;  their  en- 
dowments were  small;  their  attainments  and  their 
standards  were  equally  low.  There  was  a  reason  for 
it.  The  attention  of  our  young  men  of  promise  was 
attracted  more  immediately  to  the  necessities  of  their 
country,  in  the  defence  of  their  rights.  This,  and 
the  want  of  means  for  a  more  liberal  course,  would 
naturally  show  itself  in  its  effects  upon  our  literary 
institutions,  of  every  grade.  They  felt  it,  severely, 
for  a  time.  With  the  healing  influence  of  peace  and 
prosperity,  under  the  watchful  patronage  of  the  good 
and  the  great  who  survived  the  Revolutionary  strug- 
gle, however,  they  soon  revived,  and  have  hitherto 
continued  to  flourish. 

In  the  hands  of  such  men,  it  was  impossible  that 
the  great  concerns  of  society  should  be  lost  sight  of. 
The  all-absorbing  concern  had  been  to  obtain  their 
rights,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  now  accomplished. 
Others  soon  came  forward,  co-workers  with  the  fathers. 
Genius,  taste,  learning,  piety,  and  patriotism  had  now 
ample  scope  for  development.  The  work  was  the 
Lord's,  and,  though  marvellous  in  our  eyes,  it  must  be 
accomplished.  Looking  at  the  characters  brought  for- 
ward for  it,  just  at  the  time  they  were  wanted,  it  is  no 
more  wonderful,  though  all  great.  Immured,  as  they 
had  been,  in  their  offices,  within  the  walls  of  science,  in 
their  professional  enclosures,  in  their  shops  and  fields, 
the  TRUMBULLS,  the  ADAMSES,  the  WOLCOTTS,  the 
PARSONSES,  the  REEVES,  the  OTISES,  the  ELLSWORTHS, 


10  SERMON    FIRST. 

the  DAVENPORTS,  and  the  PICKERINGS,  among  the  ci- 
vilians ;  the  BELLAMYS,  the  EDWARDSES,  the  DWIGHTS, 
the  GOODRICHES,  the  LATHROPS,  and  BACKUSES,  and 
STRONGS,  and  EMMONSES,  among  the  Doctors  of  Di- 
vinity ;  FRANKLIN,  FULTON,  RITTENHOUSE,  and  others 
without  number,  naturalists  and  ingenious  inven- 
tors, —  now  step  forth  from  their  retirement  to  the 
respective  fields  of  action  to  which  they  were  before 
ordained ;  —  wonderful  men  and  women,  by  whom  the 
laws  of  their  country  have  been  explained  and  en- 
forced; by  whom  the  sanctions  and  the  claims  of 
Sinai  and  Calvary  have  been  set  forth  in  their  solem- 
nity ;  by  whom  time  and  space  have  been  compara- 
tively annihilated,  on  the  land  and  on  the  ocean,  by 
the  application  of  steam,  and  magnetism,  and  electri- 
city to  the  arts  of  life ;  by  whose  skilful  and  active 
powers  the  world  has  been  both  astonished  and  glad- 
dened. Thus  the  dark  places  of  the  land,  which, 
since  I  remember,  were  full  of  the  habitations  of  cru- 
elty, have  been  converted  into  fruitful  fields ;  the 
desert  and  the  swamp,  the  haunt  of  savage  beasts  and 
more  savage  man,  have  become,  as  by  enchantment, 
flourishing  cities ;  and  the  wilderness  has  been  made 
to  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

In  the  assistance  afforded  in  the  scientific  prepara- 
tion of  the  compost-heap,  by  the  knowledge  obtained 
from  the  help  of  chemical  affinities,  by  the  importa- 
tion of  guano,  as  well  as  in  labor-saving  machines  of 
every  sort,  the  accomplished  husbandman  is  permit- 
ted to  comfort  himself  with  cent  per  cent  profit,  in 
many  branches  of  tillage,  and  thus  be  rid  of  the  mor- 


SERMON    FIRST.  11 

tification  of  so  often  repeating,  as  he  has  been  known 
to  do,  Whatever  besides  may  be  said  of  farming,  it  is 
no  money-making  business.  So  our  merchant  princes 
have  come  to  know  the  benefits  of  steam.  Like  the 
"  swift  messengers  "  of  the  prophet,  not  in  their  "  ves- 
sels of  bulrushes,"  but  in  iron  steamboats,  they  go  in 
all  directions  to  distant  ports,  and  in  a  few  days  re- 
turn, unobserved,  richly  laden  with  treasures,  a  lux- 
ury to  themselves  and  to  those  with  whom  they  traffic. 

Indeed,  the  eiFect  of  our  Revolution  is  everywhere 
felt.  It  is  apparent  in  the  gleamings  of  light  and  lib- 
erty in  the  Old  World,  even  in  the  dominions  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff.  Usurpation  and  tyranny,  in  some 
places,  and  in  some  degree,  have  lost  their  power. 
The  Bastile  is  uprooted,  and  the  Inquisition  is  shorn 
of  its  terrors.  The  great  doctrine  and  discipline  of 
the  Reformation,  the  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
the  right  of  private  judgment,  have  been,  and  are  now, 
extensively  felt  as  they  never  were  before.  Great 
moral  principles  have  been  broached  and  discussed,  — 
regardless  of  a  corrupt  conservatism,  in  respect  to  in- 
temperance, slavery,  war,  and  general  licentiousness, 
— which,  in  this  and  other  lands,  are  in  a  fair  way  to 
accomplish  a  desired  reform.  Those  who  glory  in 
the  cross  of  Christ  are  not  ashamed  nor  afraid  to 
avow  it. 

The  attention  of  our  youths,  at  home  in  our  large 
towns,  attracted  by  the  help  of  well-selected  libraries, 
associations,  and  lectures,  lyceums,  healthy  recrea- 
tions and  amusements,  and  reading-rooms  with  their 
magazines,  the  society  of  the  good  and  virtuous,  is 
to  be  regarded  with  admiration  and  transport. 


12  SERMON    FIRST. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  charities,  and  hospi- 
tals, and  asylums  for  the  unfortunate  and  the  friend- 
less, the  mutes,  the  deranged,  the  diseased,  the  des- 
titute, the  helpless  old  men,  and  women,  and  chil- 
dren, almost  without  number.  Add  to  these  the 
generous  contributions  for  the  support  of  Bible  so- 
cieties, missionary  societies,  and  tract  societies,  from 
which  it  might  seem  that  the  Angel  having  the  ever- 
lasting  Gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people,  had  actually  begun  his  fight,  and  that  a  second 
Pentecost  must  be  near  at  hand.  Who  knows,  but 
some  among  my  children  may  live  to  see  it,  and  to 
have  a  part  in  it?  If  not,  our  hearts  have  been 
warmed  and  elevated  with  the  prospect. 

I  have,  just  for  my  own  amusement,  been  writing 
the  venerable  names  of  some  of  the  old  divines  con- 
temporary with  him  who  sprinkled  me  with  the  bap- 
tismal water,  together  with  those  who  were  contem- 
porary with  myself,  at  the  time  of  my  ordination; 
Connecticut  ministers,  most  of  whom  were  either  rel- 
atives or  associates,  whom  I  often  entertained  at  my 
own  table,  and  who  were  each  to  the  other  both  the 
guest  and  the  host;  all,  so  far  as  I  recollect,  men 
highly  respected  and  useful  in  their  stations,  such  as 
have  not  often  been  seen  together,  within  the  same 
limited  time  and  space,  the  writing  and  audible  re- 
peating of  whose  names  has  been  a  brief  but  a  fresh 
memorial  of  their  virtues,  enkindling  emotions  not 
very  unlike  a  hearty  shake  of  the  hand ;  a  preliba- 
tion,  it  may  be,  of  what  will  be  more  fully  realized 


SERMON    FIRST.  13 

hereafter,  if  we  are  so  happy  as  to  meet  again,  in  the 
more  immediate  and  joyful  presence  of  Hun  whom 
we  profess  to  have  served  in  the  present  life  — 

"  A  cloud  of  witnesses  that  point  to  bliss." 

There  were  other  ministers  who  were  on  the  stage 
of  action  with  me  in  Connecticut,  between  three  and 
four  hundred  in  the  whole,  whom  I  always  met  pleas- 
antly, on  public  occasions  and  in  private  circles,  most 
of  whom  are  now  gone,  whose  names  and  characters 
are  still  as  "  ointment  poured  forth."  At  the  Com- 
mencement in  New  Haven,  three  years  since,  I  could 
not  learn  that  there  were  more  than  half  a  dozen 
ministers  in  the  churches  in  Connecticut  where  I  had 
left  them  thirty  years  before,  if  then  living.  May 
the  names  of  those  who  have  gone  on  to  glory  be  still 
a  light  to  the  churches  where  they  have  labored,  and 
the  presence  of  those  that  remain  a  treasure  long  to 
be  enjoyed ! 

Few  things  are  more  interesting  than  the  recollec- 
tion of  days  bygone,  and  of  those  eminent  personages 
who,  having  fulfilled  their  important  destiny,  have 
passed  from  the  earth,  and  gone  on  to  their  reward. 
The  places  that  knew  them  shall  know  them  no  more. 
How  sadly,  how  silently,  yet  how  instructively,  one 
after  another,  they  pass  away  from  the  memories  of 
men  !  It  is,  therefore,  much  as  another  has  well  ob- 
served, not  less  a  melancholy  pleasure  than  a  solemn 
duty,  for  those  that  are  left,  to  arrest  their  progress 
to  oblivion,  and  to  preserve  for  future  ages,  not  only 
the  remembrance  of  their  names,  but  the  lustre  of 


14  SERMON   FIRST. 

their  virtues.  My  prayer  is,  that  the  great  length 
of  years  which  God  has  given  me  to  become  more  or 
less  acquainted  with  many  such  distinguished  charac- 
ters, may  not  be  wholly  in  vain. 

We  ought  to  be  reminded,  also,  by  our  subject, 
that  a  life  protracted  to  fourscore  years,  properly  im- 
proved, is  calculated  to  wean  us  from  the  world,  and 
to  lead  us  more  intensely  to  contemplate  with  delight 
the  Higher  Life,  on  which,  if  prepared,  we  are  so 
soon  to  enter.  This,  at  least,  has  been' my  experience. 
In  youth,  death  was  to  me  the  king  of  terrors.  It  is 
so,  proverbially,  I  believe,  to  many.  The  good  hope 
of  the  Gospel  does  not  always  afford  relief.  It  too 
often  seems  to  be  otherwise.  The  "  dark  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death,"  and  the  "  gloomy  confinement 
of  the  grave,"  are  images  used  in  presenting  it  to  the 
youthful  mind,  and  others  that  make  it  revolting,  and 
still  more  so,  as  we  know  it  to  be  nearly  approaching. 
We  are  well  acquainted  with  this  world,  and,  through 
habit  and  heedlessness  and  a  lack  of  faith,  become 
loth  to  exchange  it  for  one  unseen.  For  this  there  is 
a  remedy  provided  in  reason,  as  well  as  in  revelation, 
in  which,  in  accordance  with  my  own  experience,  the 
philosophy  of  the  age,  and  the  good  hope  of  the  Gos- 
pel, are  rather  in  advance  of  former  years. 

When  our  work  is  done  in  the  world,  it  is  our  priv- 
ilege to  leave  it.  The  change  herein  to  be  undergone 
is  solemn.  Among  the  multitudes  who  have  tried  it, 
in  its  inconceivably  varied  forms,  not  one  of  our  race 
has  returned  to  inform  us  what  it  is.  What  we  learn, 
we  must  know  personally.  And  of  that  we  are  not 


SERMON   FIRST.  15 

left  in  ignorance.  There  is  nothing  in  it  that  is  fright- 
ful, of  course.  It  is  all  in  good  hands,  and  wisely 
ordered.  If  others  choose  to  dwell  upon  "  the  pains," 
be  it  mine  to  know  "  the  bliss,"  of  dying.  In  a  late 
publication  I  have  seen,  it  is  ably  advocated,  that 
sleeping  and  waking  are,  and  are  designed  to  be,  daily 
and  stated  pleasant  and  profitable  monitions  of  death 
and  the  resurrection.  In  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  it  is  thus  written :  "  I  protest  by  the  re- 
joicing I  have  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  I  die  daily." 
In  whatever  sense  he  meant  it,  the  words  state  a  fact, 
and  they  will  as  well  apply  to  other  Christians  as  to 
the  Apostle.  At  any  rate,  sleep  is  a  very  striking  em- 
blem of  death.  In  sleep,  ratiocination,  perception, 
judgment,  imagination,  locomotion,  the  voice,  sensa- 
tion, consciousness,  and  memory,  are,  at  times,  en- 
tirely suspended,  —  the  three  latter  as  much  so  as  in 
death ;  and  if  death  should  thus  ensue,  how  delight- 
ful !  The  wearied  body  has  quietly  retired  to  its  rest, 
and  has  found  it.  The  soul  is  abroad  in  the  "  Better 
Land."  When  the  whole  conscious  being  is  thus  en- 
folded in  repose,  apparently  as  much  so  as  in  death, 
if  death  should  prove  to  be  the  event,  it  never  would 
be  known  at  the  time  by  the  observer,  nor  in  the  ex- 
perience of  the  subject  till  realized  by  him  in  the 
resurrection  body,  in  the  future  state ;  in  other  words, 
in  the  development  of  the  higher  life.  Thus  death, 
to  the  believer,  is  "  great  gain."  How  merciful !  thus 
unexpectedly  to  be  relieved  from  anxiety  and  anguish  ! 
Thus  we  die  easily ;  we  die  often ;  we  die  every  day, 
to  rise  again.  We  die  at  last  to  rise  again,  and  sleep 


16  SERMON    FIRST. 

no  more.  Thus  to  die,  is  gain  to  us,  in  proportion 
to  the  period  of  our  probation,  or  as  we  have  oppor- 
tunity of  proving  its  reality  by  the  length  of  its  con- 
tinuance. Rightly  improved,  fresh  hopes  are  inspired. 
Tottering  on  the  brink  of  the  grave,  we  are  cheered 
with  the  life  and  immortality  thus  illustrated,  till 
"  clothed  upon  with  our  house  which  is  from  heav- 
en," until  "  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  Is  it 
possible  that  any  can  live  and  die  in  insensibility, 
under  such  oft-repeated,  instructive,  and  consoling 
suggestions  1  May  we  not  hope,  rather,  that  to  the 
greater  number  it  is  heaven  already  begun "?  What 
an  argument,  this,  for  our  being  contented  to  live  out 
our  appointed  time ! 

But  what  do  we  read  in  connection  with  this1? 
Not,  indeed,  that  the  fourscore  years  always  secure 
the  blessing.  "  The  days  of  our  years  are  threescore 
years  and  ten;  and  if  by  reason  of  strength  they  be 
fourscore  years, yet  is  their  strength  labor  and  sorrow" 
It  is  so  indeed  sometimes  to  the  libertine,  and  some- 
times to  the  virtuous,  showing  us  that  it  is  not  ours 
at  any  time  to  sit  as  self-appointed  censors,  either  of 
ourselves  or  of  our  fellows.  The  labor  and  sorrow 
that  are  sometimes  the  attendants  of  old  age  are  no 
evidence  of  the  displeasure  of  Him  who  appoints 
them.  It  is  good  for  us  all  to  know  the  advantages 
of  discipline.  The  last  years  of  the  octogenary  may 
be  so  sanctified  by  discipline  and  reflection,  as  to 
"  yield  to  him  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  " 
more  abundantly,  and  become  to  him  habitually  the 
"  light  that  shineth  brighter  and  brighter  to  the  per- 


SERMON    FIRST.  17 

feet  day."  It  is  thus,  that  in  the  Bible  old  age  is 
described  as  one  of  the  richest  rewards  of  virtue. 
"  Hear,  O  my  son,  and  receive  my  sayings :  and  the 
years  of  thy  life  shall  be  many.  Length  of  days  is 
in  her  right  hand,  and  in  her  left  hand  riches  and 
honor.  She  is  a  tree  of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold 
upon  her,  and  happy  is  every  one  that  retaineth  her." 
Taking  leave  in  early  life  of  an  aged  and  reverend 
father,  with  whom  I  had  just  enjoyed  a  pleasant  in- 
terview, without  rising  from  his  seat  he  gave  me  his 
hand,  excusing  himself,  saying,  "  Feeble  and  helpless 
as  we  old  folks  are,  I  suppose  we  appear  to  you  very 
miserable ;  but  I  tell  you,  my  friend,  old  age  has  its 
comforts,  and  our  Heavenly  Father  lets  us  down  into 
the  grave  much  more  easily  than  you,  who  are  in  the 
midst  of  life,  imagine."  And  so  I  have  found  it,  and 
am  thankful  that  my  life  is  spared  to  fourscore  years, 
to  add  from  my  own  experience  my  testimony  to 
the  truth  of  what  the  venerable  old  gentleman  said : 
"O/d  age  lias  its  comforts"  If  at  another  time  he 
had  said,  '•'•Old  age  has  its  trials"  I  might  have  said 
the  same,  and  both  might  have  spoken  the  truth, 
and  might  have  added,  "  Our  trials,  rightly  improved, 
become  our  comforts"  "If  a  man  live  many  years, 
and  rejoice  in  them  all,  yet  let  him  remember  the 
days  of  darkness,  for  they  shall  be  many."  Our 
days  of  darkness,  labor,  and  sorrow  may  be  days  of 
light,  of  rest  and  rejoicing,  according  to  our  improve- 
ment of  them,  and  so  vice  versa.  The  secret  of  liv- 
ing rightly  is  to  see  the  hand  of  God  in  everything, 
and  to  glorify  him  in  the  day  of  his  visitation. 


18  SERMON    FIRST. 

In  what  I  have  been  saying  of  old  age,  I  have 
dwelt  rather  on  the  "  sunny  side " ;  it  has  also  its 
"shady  side."  Every  period  of  life  has  its  enjoy- 
ments. While  "  some  affect  the  sun,  and  some  the 
shade,"  all  may  find  their  appropriate  results  in  hum- 
ble submission,  living  to  the  Lord,  and  filling  up  life 
with  duty  and  usefulness. 

I  am  about  through  with  what  I  had  purposed  to 
say  from  my  text,  which  I  will  again  repeat.  "  This 
day  I  am  fourscore  years  old."  It  contains  no  doc- 
trine. It  is  an  isolated  and  egotistical  fact,  sugges- 
tive of  relations  and  events,  however,  personal  and 
social,  civil  and  religious,  on  the  whole  constituting 
an  era  interesting  to  us  all,  of  which  I  have  now 
given  you  some  of  the  outlines. 

We  have  been  together  to-day,  my  dear  children, 
looking  at  some  of  the  events  and  relations  of  a  pil- 
grimage of  eighty  years.  Permit  me,  as  we  are  here 
about  to  separate,  to  turn  your  attention  for  a  mo- 
ment to  a  family  monument,  near  the  gate- way  of  the 
burying  ground  in  Hadley,  having  on  its  plinth  the 
name  of  "  Huntington,"  and  on  its  shaft  the  word 
Excelsior.  The  shaft  and  the  inscription,  both  point- 
ing upwards,  show  us  where  we  may  always  look  in 
confidence,  both  in  trouble  and  in  joy.  Our  earthly 
tendencies  we  have  all  found  are  too  often  downward. 
Bad  examples  entice  and  lead  us  astray.  Unavailing 
efforts  discourage  us.  Delusion  and  seduction  in 
their  thousand  forms,  entering  through  the  evil  heart 
of  unbelief,  drag  us  by  their  deadly  weight  to  grovel 
in  the  dust.  What  shall  we  do  ?  These  bodies  of 


SERMON    FIRST.  19 

sin  and  death  and  darkness  confine  and  crowd  out 
the  higher  life.  What  can  deliver  us  from  these 
overpowering  lets  and  hinderances  ?  You  have  it  on 
the  memento  here  before  you,  —  EXCELSIOR.  It  is  in 
a  single  word.  You  may  advantageously  carry  it 
with  you,  wherever  you  go.  You  remember  how  it 
animated  the  aspirations  of  the  youth,  in  a  popular 
ballad  of  the  day,  enabling  him  to  outbrave  the  tem- 
pest, the  torrent,  and  the  avalanche,  in  his  ardent 
desire  to  rise  above  the  world.  Who  knows  but  the 
same  device  on  the  escutcheon  of  thousands  of  other 
youths,  at  their  outset  in  life,  may  have  animated 
them  in  their  resolutions  and  efforts  to  sustain  their 
infirmities,  and  accomplish  their  object ;  and  that,  if 
it  is  duly  observed,  you  may  become  partakers  in 
their  joys? 

Here,  then,  in  the  midst  of  the  silent  mansions  of 
the  dead,  where  everything  around  us  inspires  solem- 
nity, we  will  once  more,  as  we  part,  turn  our  eyes 
both  upon  the  monition  and  consolation  of  our  motto, 
Excelsior, — Upward!  "upward  and  onward,"  and  in 
happy  affinity  with  a  memento  of  higher  authority, 
and  which,  I  hope,  we  have  every  day  before  us,  in 
our  hands  and  in  our  hearts, — "Set  your  affections  on 
things  above,  and  not  on  things  on  the  earth,"  enforced 
by  the  consideration,  that  "  the  things  ivhich  are  seen 
are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eter- 
nal^ 

"  Rise,  my  soul,  and  stretch  thy  wings, 

Thy  better  portion  trace ! 
Rise  from  transitory  things 

Towards  heaven,  thy  native  place !  " 


20  SERMON    FIRST. 

Towards  heaven,  thy  native  place !  There  God  is,  and 
the  throne  of  his  grace.  There  Christ  is,  with  open 
arms,  ready  to  receive  every  returning  sinner :  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life,  the  Light  and  Joy  of 
every  true  believer.  There  look  and  listen,  and 
find  the  rest,  the  peace,  and  glory,  that  we  seek  in 
vain  here  below. 

"  Ever  upward  let  us  move, 
Wafted  on  the  wings  of  love, 
Looking  when  our  Lord  shall  come, 
Longing  for  our  heavenly  home." 


SEEMON   SECOND. 


COME  WITH  ME  FROM  LEBANON,  MY  SPOUSE,  WITH  ME  FROM  LEBA- 
NON :  LOOK  FROM  THE  TOP  OF  AMANA,  FROM  THE  TOP  OF  SHENIR 
AND  HERMON,  FROM  THE  LIONS'  DENS,  FROM  THE  MOUNTAINS  OF 

THE  LEOPARDS. —  Song  of  Solomon,  iv.  8. 


MY  text,  from  a  passage  containing  the  name  of  a 
town  familiar  to  me  as  the  place  of  my  birth  and 
early  education,  naturally  reminds  me  of  that  part  of 
my  own  experience  there,  in  childhood  and  youth,  in 
relation  to  which  I  would  address  those  who  are  com- 
ing after  me  on  to  the  stage  of  life. 

The  lofty  cedars  of  Lebanon,  the  enchanting  scen- 
ery of  Amana,  Shenir,  and  Hermon,  the  lair  of  the 
lion  and  the  leopard,  —  such  figuratively  may  be  the 
language  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  caution- 
ing us  of  the  dangers  and  difficulties,  of  the  snares 
and  temptations,  of  the  blandishments  and  trials, 
that  arrest  us  in  the  period  of  our  probation.  Here, 
at  ease,  wandering  inconsiderately  among  the  moun- 
tains and  the  valleys  around  us,  we  are  in  danger  of 
being  led  astray  and  lost,  all  our  high  hopes  and 


22  SERMON    SECOND. 

prospects  notwithstanding.  A  voice  reaches  us  to- 
day from  Him  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  to  all  who  will 
listen  and  obey.  "  Renouncing  the  world,  with  its 
delusions  and  vanities,  look  unto  me  and  be  saved, 
all  ye  ends  of  the  earth."  "  My  son  and  my  daugh- 
ter, give  me  thine  heart."  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest."  Or,  in  the  words  of  the  text,  "  Come  with  me 
from  Lebanon,  my  spouse,  with  me  from  Lebanon." 
For  "  my  spouse,"  read  "  my  children,"  and  the  invi- 
tation here  given  adapts  itself  as  well  to  me  and  my 
family,  as  to  Solomon  and  those  to  whom  it  was  origi- 
nally sent.  As  the  stated  pastor  of  two  churches, 
and  in  the  labors  of  an  evangelist,  I  have  addressed 
more  than  fifty  religious  societies.  So  far  as  these 
services  may  have  been  of  spiritual  benefit  to  any,  I 
love  to  think  of  those  that  received  them  as  chil- 
dren, in  the  faith  and  fellowship  of  the  Gospel.  T\~e 
are  here,  my  children,  in  "  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  the 
lusts  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life " :  these  are 
prominent  among  our  spiritual  enemies,  described  in 
the  New  Testament,  from  which  we  are  to  turn  away 
with  disgust.  They  are  the  same  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, under  different  images  and  illustrations.  Thus 
Lebanon,  in  the  text,  alluded  to  as  among  the  lofti- 
est heights  of  the  surrounding  country,  becomes  a  fit 
type  of  the  loftiness  of  pride,  that  most  odious  and 
easily  besetting  sin.  Consider  a  moment  what  pride 
is,  my  children.  It  is  all  along,  in  the  Bible,  spo- 
ken of  as  that  which  exalteth  itself  "  above  all  that 
is  called  God."  It  was  the  sin  by  which  the  angels 


SERMON    SECOND. 

fell.  It  drove  our  first  parents  from  their  paradise  of 
bliss,  and  to  the  present  time  makes  those  of  their 
descendants  who  yield  to  its  dictates  what,  in  the 
word  of  God,  they  are  described  to  be,  "  hateful  and 
hating  one  another."  By  common  consent,  it  is  an 
odious  inmate  in  the  human  heart,  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  man.  I  will  quote  you  a  few  passages,  as  a 
specimen  of  what  is  said  of  it,  in  the  word  of  God. 
"  The  day  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall  be  upon  every 
one  that  is  lofty  and  proud,  and  every  one  that  is 
lifted  up,  and  he  shall  be  brought  low:  and  upon 
all  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  that  are  high  and  lifted 
up.  The  lofty  looks  of  man  shall  be  humbled,  and 
the  haughtiness  of  man  shall  be  bowed  down,  and 
the  Lord  alone  shall  be  exalted."  "A  high  look  and 
a  proud  heart  is  sin."  "Him  that  hath  a  proud 
heart  will  I  not  surfer."  "  God  resisteth  the  proud, 
but  giveth  grace  unto  the  humble."  O  how  often 
do  we  find  ourselves  inflated  with  that  temper,  which 
influences  us  to  look  down  with  indifference,  at  least, 
upon  the  repentance,  submission,  and  humility  of  the 
Gospel !  There  are  other  forms  of  pride,  almost  in- 
numerable, which,  if  less  manifest,  are  not  less  odious. 
We  see  it  in  the  importance  assumed  by  supposed 
talents  and  attainments,  whatever  they  may  be.  In 
one,  it  is  intellectual  strength,  in  another  physical, 
in  another  moral.  One  is  proud  of  his  person ;  an- 
other, of  his  mind;  another,  of  his  dress;  another, 
of  his  riches  ;  another,  of  his  home ;  another,  of  his 
family;  another,  of  his  equipage;  and  another, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  is  proud  of  his  religion, 


24  SERMON    SECOND. 

Whatever  may  be  its  developments,  its  hateful  cog- 
nates are  the  pride  of  opinion,  the  pride  of  educa- 
tion, fame,  office,  denomination,  —  embracing  creeds, 
forms,  ceremonies ;  stirring  np  the  sediment  of  the 
human  heart ;  engendering  a  spirit  of  sectarian  acer- 
bity, altogether  hostile  to  that  spirit  of  love  which  is 
the  bond  of  perfectness ;  involving  the  violation  of 
individual  and  social  rights  and  compacts ;  enduring 
oppressions,  relentless  persecutions,  and  bloody  wars. 
All  this  we  know ;  but  still  our  hearts,  O  how  inflat- 
ed with  evil  passions  !  And  in  how  many  instances 
do  they  remain  wholly  unmoved !  We  hear  the  in- 
viting voice  from  above,  and  often  with  fixed  atten- 
tion and  apparent  tenderness ;  and  all  this  notwith- 
standing, we  dismiss  the  subject,  and  with  a  "  Go  thy 
way  for  this  time,"  we  succeed  in  getting  rid  of  it. 
"  We  are  gods,"  is  the  language  of  our  hearts. 
"We  will  come  no  more  unto  Thee."  "Who  are 
we,  that  we  should  stoop  to  the  cross  of  the  despised 
Nazarene  I "  "  Who  are  we,  that  we  should  be  num- 
bered as  brethren  with  those  so  far  beneath  us  in 
life  1 "  "  Who  are  we,  that  we  should  be  preached 
to  and  admonished  upon  these  subjects  1 "  "  Leave 
us  to  ourselves."  "  We  are  safe  enough."  "  WTien 
we  want  advice,  we  will  ask  it."  Thus  exposed  are 
we  often  found,  when  we  begin  to  reflect  and  realize 
our  destitution  and  danger,  living  "  without  God  and 
without  Christ  in  the  world,"  and  strangers  to  the 
good  hope  of  the  Gospel. 

What  I  would  impress  upon  the  minds  of  those 
who  thus  feel  and  thus  speak  is,  that  it  is  pride  that 


SERMON   SECOND.  25 

thus  keeps  them  ashamed  of  the  cross,  and  thus  in 
bondage  to  sin.  From  all  these  proud  heights  of 
Lebanon,  my  young  friends,  we  are  called  upon  to 
rise  and  come  away.  "Come  with  me  from  Leb- 
anon, my  spouse,  with  me  from  Lebanon." 

Not  only  from  the  proud  heights  of  Lebanon  are 
we  invited  to  come,  down,  but  to  look  away  from 
the  pleasant  tops  of  Amana.  Both  the  pride  and 
the  pleasures  of  the  world  are  to  be  renounced. 
They  are  both,  in  one  view  of  them,  our  enemies. 
In  the  view  we  have  taken  of  pride,  it  is  odious  en- 
tirely and  without  mitigation.  At  the  same  time, 
there  is  something  we  often  meet  with  in  life  so  ex- 
tremely resembling  it  that  both  are  taken  for  one 
and  the  same  thing.  It  is  the  eye  of  God  that 
discerns  the  difference,  and  to  those  who  look  to 
Him,  light  will  arise  out  of  darkness.  No  one 
need  be  mistaken.  So,  in  the  profusion  of  the 
blessings  that  surround  us,  there  is  danger  lest  the 
heart  be  lifted  up,  and  led  away,  by  innumerable 
enchantments;  and  that  thus  the  great  work  of 
life  should  be  forgotten.  Hence  the  necessity  of 
searching  the  heart  with  all  diligence,  that  we  may 
know,  and  that  others  may  know,  "  what  manner  of 
spirit  we  are  of." 

Having  thus  seen  some  of  the  dangers  to  which 
we  are  exposed,  taught  us  by  the  proud  cedars  of 
Lebanon,  we  are  prepared  to  consider  what  may  be 
represented  by  the  delights  of  Amana.  "  Look  from 
the  top  of  Amana." 

When  reading  and  speaking  of  "  the  world,"  we 


26  SERMON   SECOND. 

are  to  do  it  with  suitable  discrimination.  Thus  we 
come  to  consider  it  both  our  enemy  and  our  friend, 
as,  on  the  whole,  we  choose  to  have  it.  When  we 
contemplate  it  as  to  be  renounced  and  forsaken,  we 
consider  it  our  enemy.  In  this  we  judge  for  our- 
selves, and  take  the  responsibility. 

We  will  bring  into  view,  then,  a  few  thoughts,  that 
show  us  when  the  world  is  our  friend.  It  is  God's 
world,  —  this  that  we  see  around  us.  It  is  just  what 
he  designed  it  to  be.  It  is  exactly  adapted  to  our 
condition,  as  moral  agents  and  immortal  beings.  It 
is  a  world  of  life  and  light  and  liberty  and  blessed- 
ness. Over  our  heads,  in  the  heavens,  the  greater 
light  he  gives  to  rule  the  day ;  the  lesser  light  to  rule 
the  night ;  and  the  stars  to  extend  our  thoughts  to 
the  immensity  that  awaits  us  beyond. 

For  us  are  "  the  chief  things  of  the  ancient  moun- 
tains and  the  precious  things  of  the  lasting  hills ; 
the  pastures  clothed  with  flocks,  and  the  valleys  cov- 
ered over  with  corn ;  rain  from  heaven,  and  fruitful 
seasons " ;  and,  above  all,  the  good-will  of  Him 
whose  hand  is  in  all  these  manifestations  of  his  love, 
showing  us  that  this  world  of  his  was  not  designed 
to  be  our  enemy.  Add  to  these,  the  means  of  im- 
provement which  we  enjoy  in  social  life ;  our  civil 
and  religious  privileges ;  our  hopes  and  our  fears ; 
our  joys  and  our  sorrows ;  our  pleasures  and  our 
pains ;  our  prosperity  and  our  adversities ;  the  pleas- 
ures of  home ;  the  endearing  realities  of  life ;  the  en- 
joyment of  friends  ;  society, —  the  society  of  rational, 
immortal  minds ;  the  material  world,  this  beautiful 


SERMON    SECOND.  27 

world  of  ours,  not  in  the  uppermost  room  of  the 
heart,  but  under  our  feet,  —  what  is  it  but  the  very 
image  of  heaven  I  It  is  all  our  hearts  can  desire. 
It  is  heaven  already  begun.  I  say  it  is  a  good  world, 
and  if  you  will  take  the  word  of  God  for  it,  you  may 
enjoy  it.  "  Using  the  world  as  not  abusing  it,"  its 
honors,  its  profits,  its  pleasures,  its  recreations,  its 
labors,  are  all  yours,  and  may  become  conducive  to 
the  health  and  happiness  of  both  body  and  soul,  for 
time  and  eternity.  To  the  Christian  world  it  is  pro- 
claimed, again  and  again,  "All  things  are  yours, 
whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world, 
or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to 
come,  all  are  yours  "  ;  you  may  enjoy  it. 

Many  of  the  things  here  mentioned,  notwithstand- 
ing, are  confessedly  enemies.  They  become  so  by  our 
inattention  and  indifference ;  in  other  words,  by  our 
abuse  of  them.  Contradictory  as  this,  at  first  view, 
may  seem,  it  is  all  intelligible  to  the  ingenuous  mind 
and  the  careful  reader.  Paul  and  Apollos  and  Ce- 
phas were  able,  eloquent,  and  faithful  men,  in  their 
stations,  and  in  their  endeavors  to  convince  the  world 
of  the  evil  of  sin  ;  of  the  necessity  of  holiness ;  and 
of  the  awards  of  the  judgment  of  the  great  day :  but 
if  their  hearers  persisted  in  turning  the  deaf  ear,  the 
blind  eye,  and  the  hard  heart,  and  died,  at  last,  in 
impenitence  and  pride,  they,  and  those  who  labored 
in  vain  with  them,  for  the  spiritual  good  of  such 
hearers,  will  appear  as  swift  witnesses  against  them. 
We,  my  children,  have  our  Paul  and  our  Apollos  and 
our  Cephas ;  we  have  our  privileges  and  responsibil- 


28  SERMON    SECOND. 

ities ;  we  have  life  and  death  set  before  us,  and  we 
might  choose  for  ourselves. 

Life  and  death  are  words  of  high  import  in  the 
Bible.  The  life  of  the  body  is  a  boon,  highly  prized 
by  all;  but  the  life  of  the  soul,  the  higher  life! 
What  doth  it  profit  a  man,  though  he  gain  the  whole 
world  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  body"?  The  one 
thing  needful  lacking,  things  present  and  things  to 
come  all  amount  to  nothing,  in  the  great  concern  of 
the  soul's  salvation. 

Death  is  sometimes  ranked  among  our  enemies,  in 
the  Bible :  at  the  same  time  it  is  our  best  friend.  If 
it  is  our  enemy,  it  may  be  a  conquered  enemy.  It 
not  only  does  no  harm  to  the  believer ;  it  is  to  him 
great  gain.  By  means  of  it,  he  is  introduced  to  a 
higher  happiness,  to  an  immortality  of  unspeakable 
bliss. 

Our  passions  and  appetites,  improperly  indulged, 
are  degrading  and  ruinous ;  but  in  the  sphere  of  ac- 
tion here  allotted  us,  we  could  not  do  without  them. 

Our  sleep,  and  other  indulgences,  are  refreshing 
and  are  conducive  to  health  and  usefulness :  too  far 
indulged,  they  imbrute  the  faculties,  and  ruin  the 
soul.  I  ask  your  particular  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject, my  young  friends,  because,  when  the  world 
has  been  spoken  of  from  the  pulpit,  it  has  too  often 
been  spoken  of  and  thought  of  only  as  our  enemy. 
Many  have  been  so  puzzled  and  blinded  by  this  lan- 
guage, as  to  be  tempted  to  fold  their  hands  in  de- 
spair, and  to  sink  into  inactivity  and  indolence. 
Everything  like  amusement  and  recreation  has  been 
considered  wrong  of  course. 


SERMON    SECOND.  29 

I  am  loth  thus  to  leave  the  subject.  I  am  free 
to  say,  and  I  am  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  to 
say,  that  children  and  youth  must  have  their  amuse- 
ments. So  far  from  its  being  the  truth,  that  there 
are  no  lawful  amusements,  it  appears  to  me  that 
the  kind  Author  of  our  Being  has  provided,  merci- 
fully provided  them,  not  only  for  children  and  youth, 
but  for  all  ages  and  conditions  of  men.  The  com- 
mon and  necessary  business  of  life  has  its  amuse- 
ments closely  attached  to  it.  It  is  wisely  ordered, 
as  a  part  of  our  probation,  that  it  should  be  so. 

The  husbandman,  upon  his  farm;  the  mechanic, 
in  his  shop ;  the  merchant,  in  the  exchange  of  his 
commodities ;  —  all  these,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
in  providing  for  themselves  and  their  families  "  things 
honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men,"  find  abundant  amuse- 
ment. Professional  men  find  an  elevated  satisfac- 
tion in  doing  good  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of 
men.  The  artist,  in  the  finish  of  the  chisel,  the 
palette,  and  the  lath,  is  rapt  from  hour  to  hour, 
and  from  month  to  month.  The  mathematician  is 
not  less  so.  The  man  of  science,  in  the  concate- 
nations of  his  comparisons  and  proofs  to  bring  out 
the  results  of  his  problem,  in  his  investigations  in 
geology  and  chemistry,  in  the  magic  of  electricity 
and  magnetism,  in  the  profound  calculations  of 
natural  philosophy  and  astronomy,  has  sublime  sat- 
isfaction. The  poet  finds  his  amusement  in  reduc- 
ing the  creations  of  imagination  to  the  chime  and 
measure  of  verse.  The  man  of  leisure  and  wealth, 
in  the  midst  of  life,  finds  his  amusement  in  books 


00  SERMON    SECOND. 

and  business  at  home ;  or,  abroad,  in  travel ;  in  the 
bracing  atmosphere  of  the  mountains,  in  partaking 
of  the  exhilarating  draught  of  the  crystal  fountain. 
Others,  with  more  limited  means,  have  high  enjoy- 
ment in  visiting  those  they  love,  and  in  receiving 
their  visits,  in  return.  Thus  all,  in  advanced  life, 
are  provided  with  amusements,  in  their  different 
employments,  which  are  not  only  innocent  but  use- 
ful. I  am  thankful,  I  hope,  that  to  a  still  more  ad- 
vanced period  my  life  is  spared,  to  testify  from  my 
own  experience,  that  old  age  has  its  comforts  in 
this  way.  Peculiar  comforts  have  their  mission  for 
others ;  why  not  for  those  in  the  morning  of  life? 
Why  should  there  not  be  an  appropriate  provision, 
from  the  same  kind  hand,  for  the  enjoyment  of  our 
children  and  youth,  in  the  way  they  so  highly  relish, 
and  for  which  they  seem  to  be  formed,  and  which 
are  so  conducive  to  the  health,  both  of  the  body 
and  the  soul1?  Their  employments,  for  the  present, 
are  for  the  most  part  in  the  family,  at  school,  and 
apprenticeships,  which,  though  not  professedly  utili- 
tarian, are  pursued  with  reference  to  future  useful- 
ness. Is  it  not  right,  then,  that  in  their  seasons  of 
leisure  they  should  be  indulged  in  recreations  pro- 
vided for  them  by  their  Maker;  and  which  have 
been  so  generally  and  cordially  allowed  them,  by 
their  guardians  and  their  parents'?  Why  may  not 
that  which  is  lacking  in  the  utile.  be  made  up  in 
the  dulce?  in  the  calisthenics  and  gymnastics  of 
the  school  and  the  play-grounds? 

In  renouncing  the  guilty  pleasures  of  the  world, 


SERMON    SECOND.  31 

we  must  not  forget  that  the  language  of  the  Bible 
on  the  subject  is  decided,  —  of  deep  and  solemn  im- 
port. To  be  understood,  it  must  be  read  and  prayer- 
fully pondered.  We  have  seen  how  the  world  is 
our  friend.  We  are  now  to  see  how  it  becomes 
our  enemy.  As  God  gives  it  to  us  to  enjoy,  it  is  the 
former.  As  we  abuse  and  pervert  it  by  the  wrong 
use  of  it,  it  is  the  latter. 

"  The  friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God." 
This  explains  the  whole  difficulty,  as  to  any  apparent 
contradiction.  It  is  an  idolatrous  affection  to  the 
world  that  makes  it  our  enemy.  When  the  ameni- 
ties of  the  world  become  our  idols,  they  then  become 
a  snare. 

With  the  aged,  and  those  in  the  midst  of  life,  gold 
is  more  commonly  the  idol.  Pleasure,  in  its  thou- 
sand forms,  is  more  commonly  the  seducer  of  those 
in  the  morning  of  life.  To  this  become  subservient 
the  intoxicating  glass,  unnatural  stimulants,  foolish 
thoughts,  the  offspring  of  gay  and  jovial  hearts,  idle 
words  which  have  commonly  neither  wit  nor  common 
sense  to  recommend  them,  cruel  sports,  and  games  of 
chance,  —  in  which  time  and  treasure  are  both  haz- 
arded and  misspent,  —  evil  surmisings,  falsehood, 
sloth,  the  indulgence  of  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts ;  all 
combining,  by  habit,  to  make  us  insensibly  the  willing 
captives  of  the  destroyer,  and,  if  persisted  in,  drown- 
ing the  soul  in  perdition.  From  these  we  are  called 
upon  to  turn  away.  Turn  away  we  must,  either 
from  Christ  or  an  ensnaring  world.  We  cannot  love 
supremely  both  God  and  Mammon.  And,  in  this 


32  SERMON    SECOND. 

case,  as  in  every  other,  our  duty  will  be  our  pleasure. 
In  cheerful  obedience  to  the  behest  of  God  and  of 
conscience,  you  will  delight  to  turn  your  backs  upon 
all  forbidden,  soliciting,  sinful  indulgences.  In  such 
an  alternative,  the  world  has  lost  its  charms.  It  is 
comparatively  empty  of  enjoyment.  It  affords  noth- 
ing for  the  nobler  powers  to  act  upon  as  the  supreme 
good.  What  you  once  may  have  termed  pleasure, 
and  pursued  as  such,  has  now  lost  its  relish.  Hav- 
ing a  new  taste  inspired,  and  the  nobler  powers  of 
the  soul  sanctified  and  quickened,  what  was  once 
sweet  to  the  taste  is  now  bitter ;  what  was  once  good 
is  now  evil.  Looking  away  from  the  world  will  be 
no  self-denial.  I  wish  you,  now.,  thoroughly  to  "  count 
the  cost "  of  being  Christians,  so  as  never  to  have  oc- 
casion hereafter  to  accuse  yourselves  of  rashness,  or 
to  repent  of  what  you  have  done,  or  left  undone,  to 
perfect  your  character.  And  if  there  is  any  sacrifice 
you  are  unwilling  to  make  for  Christ  and  your  souls ; 
if  there  is  any  favorite  amusement,  or  gratification, 
you  are  not  willing  to  dispense  with ;  if  there  is  any 
article  of  superfluity  in  which  you  are  not  willing  to 
retrench  as  there  is  a  proper  call  for  it,  —  will  you 
give  the  subject  due  consideration,  and  take  firm  and 
decided  ground "?  Let  it  be '  seen,  in  public  and  in 
private,  that  the  religion  of  the  cross  produces  a  de- 
cision of  character  which  is  unwavering.  Do  not 
suffer  the  sons  and  daughters  of  a  vainglory  ever  to 
approach  you,  on  the  subject  of  their  sensual  and 
sordid  pleasures,  without  improving  the  occasion  to 
manifest  to  them,  that  you  have  made  up  your  mind 


SERMON    SECOND.  33 

upon  principle;  that  you  are  fixed;  and  that  you 
consider  them  in  a  course  of  danger.  "  My  son,  my 
daughter,  if  sinners  entice  thee,  consent  thou  not." 
Not  only  do  not  go  with  them,  but  let  them  know 
the  reason  of  it.  A  gentle  rebuke,  administered  in 
a  way  of  tenderness  and  feeling,  will  possibly  do 
more  in  carrying  conviction  to  the  thoughtless,  than 
a  long  sermon.  A  word  in  this  way,  fitly  spoken, 
how  good  is  it ! 

Do  not  suffer  yourselves  to  meet  the  libertine  half- 
way in  your  feelings,  or  to  think  there  can  be  any- 
thing tolerable  in  a  gay  round  of  thoughtless  dissi- 
pation. "  Look  away  from  the  tops  of  Amana." 
Avoid  speaking,  or  even  thinking,  with  approbation, 
of  what  some  may  be  disposed  to  call  "  innocent " 
amusements,  but  what  they  and  you  know  to  be  of  a 
doubtful  character.  What  will  be  realized  in  the 
bosom  of  every  good  man  and  woman,  and  what  is 
seen  in  their  intercourse  with  the  world,  is  beautiful- 
ly described  in  the  context.  "  The  flowers  appear  on 
the  earth ;  and  the  time  of  the  singing  of  the  birds 
is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  the 
land."  Heavenly  affections  are  enkindled,  and  a 
"  new  song  is  put  into  our  mouths,  even  praise  to  our 
God."  The  first  comforts  of  the  witnessing  spirit 
are  set  home  to  our  hearts.  "The  fig-tree  putteth 
forth  her  green  figs,  and  the  vines,  with  their  tender 
grapes,  give  a  goodly  smell." 

The  first,  immature  fruits  of  righteousness  begin 
to  show  themselves,  promising  a  rich  and  abundant 
harvest.  All  the  encouraging  tokens  of  Divine  favor, 

5 


34  SERMON    SECOND. 

thus  vouchsafed,  operate  as  the  most  animating  mo- 
tives to  press  forward  in  the  Christian  course.  The 
wintry,  barren  joys  of  earth  have  no  further  charms  ; 
all  the  music  with  which  she  delighted  us  dies  away 
upon  the  ear,  while  we  listen  to  the  still,  small  voice, 
saying  to  us,  "  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it,"  and 
we  are,  at  times,  swallowed  up  in  the  anticipations 
of  a  life  of  glory,  never  to  have  an  end. 

Another  class  of  our  spiritual  enemies  is  presented 
by  our  subject,  which,  if  not  as  numerous,  is  more 
active,  than  the  former. 

Not  only  from  the  seductions  of  Amana  are  we  to 
look  away,  but  from  the  frightful  haunts  of  Shenir 
and  Hermon,  the  lair  of  the  lion  and  the  leopard, 
those  formidable  beasts  of  prey,  striking  emblems  of 
the  Devil  and  his  emissaries. 

In  speaking  to  my  children  on  such  a  subject,  I 
make  no  apology  for  introducing  such  a  character  as 
the  Devil,  —  a  character  as  distinctly  delineated  in 
the  Bible  as  any  other,  and  who,  in  God's  govern- 
ment of  the  world,  has  a  work  assigned  which  can- 
not easily  be  mistaken.  Whatever  that  work  may 
be,  each  is  to  give  heed  to  his  own  halting,  looking 
well  to  the  evidence  afforded  him  of  his  being  num- 
bered with  the  sincere  followers  of  Him  to  whom  all 
devils  are  subject ;  always  remembering  the  Devil 
will  never  harm  those  who  will  not  harm  themselves. 
The  command  and  the  promise  go  together,  "  Resist 
the  Devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you." 

Among  the  enemies  alluded  to  in  the  text  are  in- 
cluded also  wicked  and  wily  companionships  of  our 


SERMON    SECOND.  35 

own,  standing,  visible  and  tangible,  the  emissaries  and 
agents  of  Satan.  You  may,  at  some  times,  have  kept 
their  company,  and  turned  a  blind  eye  to  their  folly. 
Now,  avowedly  leaving  their  ranks  mortifies  them. 
Such  will  be  their  disingenuousness,  they  will  readily 
impute  it  to  any  other  motive  than  the  right  one. 
And  if  they  find  you  hesitating,  they  will  spread  it 
abroad  to  your  hurt.  By  their  thousand  arts,  they 
will  try  to  allure  you  again,  and  bring  you  back  to 
their  follies  and  vanities.  They  will  tempt  you  to 
behave  like  themselves,  in  loose  conduct,  in  vain  and 
trifling  conversation,  to  try  your  steadfastness,  and  to 
have  it  to  say,  that  your  scruples  are  all  affectation. 
They  will  try  to  surprise  you  into  sin,  by  some  false 
report ;  to  ridicule,  to  drive,  and  to  coax  you  out  of 
the  right,  and  into  the  wrong  course.  They  will  be 
glad  to  have  it  to  say  of  you,  that  you  are  just  as  de- 
voted to  selfish  indulgences  as  themselves.  You  will 
accordingly  have  solicitations  to  join  them  in  circles 
of  social  merriment  of  a  doubtful  character.  If  you 
refuse,  they  will  call  you  precise  and  "  righteous  over- 
much." You  will  be  branded  with  religious  fastidi- 
ousness, and  over-heated  zeal,  as  the  case  may  be, 
especially  if  you  plead  a  sense  of  duty.  The  "  li- 
ons "  will  roar,  and  the  "  leopards  "  will  growl,  at 
one  time ;  they  will  fawn  and  cringe  at  another ;  but 
it  will  be  your  endeavor,  by  a  prudent,  a  steady  and 
consistent  course  of  conduct,  to  make  it  manifest  how 
little  you  regard  either  their  smiles  or  their  frowns. 
He  that  calls  you  to  come  away,  with  the  greatest 
kindness,  will  notice  your  obedience.  "  The  Lion  of 


36  SERMON    SECOND. 

the  Tribe  of  Judah "  is  able  and  willing  to  defend 
from  all  otber  lions  all  who  will  submit  to  his  au- 
thority. Hence  the  very  seasonable  and  salutary 
caution,  —  if  the  profligate  and  profane  say,  "  Come 
with  us,"  "  Cast  in  thy  lot  among  us,"  —  "  My  son, 
walk  not  in  the  way  with  them " ;  "  listen  not  to 
their  counsel."  "  Refrain  thy  foot  from  their  path." 
"  Go  not  in  the  way  of  evil  men ;  avoid  it,  pass  not 
by  it,  and  turn  away." 

The  subject  is  before  you,  my  children:  its  admo- 
nitions, its  prospects,  and  its  promises.  It  is  sub- 
mitted to  you,  as  moral  agents  and  immortal  beings. 
Still  probationers,  you  have  a  life,  you  know  not 
how  long,  in  prospect.  While  God  is  waiting  to  be 
gracious,  still  look  away  from  "  Shenir  and  Hermon, 
from  the  lions'  dens,  and  the  mountains  of  the  leop- 
ards." Leave  them  far  behind  in  distant  prospect. 
Hoping  you  have  already  "  the  Day-dawn,  and  the 
Day-Star  in  your  hearts,"  live  as  "  children  of  the 
Light  and  of  the  Day."  If  you  have  accepted  the 
invitation  of  the  text,  lay  hold  on  the  promise  it  con- 
tains. Never  rest  satisfied  with  present  attainments, 
when  there  is  such  a  field  before  you  for  improve- 
ment. 

Wherever  we  open  our  eyes  around  us,  we  are 
convinced,  from  what  we  see,  that  our  Heavenly 
Father  is  giving  us  instructive  lessons,  "in  things 
belonging  to  our  peace."  We  see  it  in  our  gardens, 
in  our  fields,  and  our  forests.  The  poets  tell  us, 
there  are  "  books  in  brooks,  sermons  in  stones,  and 
good  in  everything."  In  the  text  before  us,  we  have 


SERMON    SECOND.  37 

allusions  to  the  scenery  of  the  country  where  it  was 
written.  How  has  such  scenery  been  prized  in  all 
ages,  by  heathen  nations  as  well  as  those  who  were 
more  refined !  The  pagan  mythology  is  full  of  it. 
Their  Elysium  and  Tartarus,  —  how  well  they  corre- 
spond with  the  Sinai  and  Horeb,  the  Ebal  and  Geri- 
zim,  of  the  Israelites !  Lebanon  and  Amana,  Shenir 
and  Hermon,  of  the  Old  Testament,  —  Mount  Moriah 
and  the  Mount  of  Olives,  Zion  and  Calvary,  of  the 
New,  —  are  all  familiar  objects  with  the  inhabitants 
of  the  "  hill  country  of  Judsea,"  calculated  to  gratify 
their  taste,  and  elevate  their  devotions. 

Prize,  then,  more  than  ever,  my  young  friends,  not 
only  the  word  of  God,  the  light  of  reason  and  con- 
science, but  the  light  that  shines  everywhere  in  this 
beautiful  world.  When  abroad  in  the  fields  and 
villages,  either  for  labor  or  recreation,  listen  to  the 
voices  that  are  coming  to  you  from  above  and  be- 
neath, saying,  "  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it." 
"  Wisdom's  ways  are  pleasantness,  all  her  paths 
are  peace." 

Wherever  you  go,  and  whatever  you  do,  be  im- 
pressed with  a  sense  of  that  Presence  which  cqntin- 
ually  surrounds  us;  and  as  you  are  tempted  to 
wander  from  the  straight  and  narrow  way  into  the 
forbidden  paths  of  sin,  always  be  ready  to  say,  as 
you  are  tempted,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,"  and 
" How  can£I  do  this,  and  sin  against  God? " 

And  as  those  older  than  yourselves  are  moving  off 
the  stage  of  action,  who  have  been  near  and  dear  to 
you,  let  it  not  be  forgotten,  but  ever  be  remem- 
bered, that  they  have  not  ceased  to  care  for  you. 


38  SERMON    SECOND. 

Shortly,  he  who  now  addresses  you  will  be  no 
more  here.  Looking  back,  through  the  long  vista 
of  seventy  or  eighty  years,  I  wish  I  could  gather 
up  something  profitable  to  those  coming  after.  I 
leave  no  monument  of  brass  or  marble.  My  EB- 
ENEZER,  "  Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  me,"  Monu- 
mentum  ^Ere  perennius,  I  leave  with  you,  with  the 
assurance  that  "  the  Master  we  serve  will  ever  help 
those  who  will  help  themselves."  Act  upon  this 
motto,  and  you  will  have  a  good  improvement  of 
the  subject  before  us.  They  who  love  and  serve 
the  Lord  will  enjoy  his  presence,  and  prosper. 

In  the  mean  time,  let  it  be  ever  our  fervent  prayer, 
"  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  1 "  As  good 
an  answer  as  we  can  have  is,  "  Be  diligent  in  busi- 
ness, fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord." 

Having  the  hope  of  Christians,  make  it  manifest 
that  you  mean  to  be  known  as  belonging  to  their 
company.  Let  no  time  be  lost  in  neglecting  to 
make  a  public  profession  of  a  proper  kind.  When 
the  path  of  duty  is  plain,  there  is  nothing  gained 
by  postponement. 

"  Diligent  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving 
the  Lord,"  may  we  all  be  thankful  for  the  past, 
and  for  the  future  leave  all  with  Him. 

My  powers  and  privileges,  whatever  they  are,  I 
desire  on  this  the  day  of  my  birth  to  devote  afresh 
to  my  Maker.  If  he  has  still,  on  earth,  a  work  for 
me  to  do,  I  ought  willingly  to  stay  and  finish  it. 

This  world  of  ours  is  a  world  every  way  adapted 
to  our  necessities,  and  we  ought  so  to  live  in  it,  for 


SERMON    SECOND.  39 

the  time  allotted  us,  that  we  may  be  always  in 
readiness  to  leave  it,  and  be  prepared  for  a  happy 
entrance  into  that  set  before  us  in  the  Gospel. 

Whether  that  event  shall  come  sooner  or  later 
is  of  small  importance,  compared  with  that  of  se- 
curing a  character  which  will,  in  any  event,  make 
our  state  a  safe  one,  —  "  living  or  dying,  the  Lord's." 
The  character  is  everything,  and  all  we  want,  for 
time  or  eternity. 

And,  as  what  I  am  now  saying  is  designed  specially 
for  my  family,  permit  me  to  say,  in  conclusion,  as 
encouragement  in  the  way  of  well-doing,  both  in 
a  retrospective  and  prospective  view,  that  I  do  not 
find,  in  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  many  that  do  not 
fairly  sustain  a  good  character.  A  good  character, 
you  know,  implies  a  life  of  good  principles.  A  good 
life  is  open  to  the  choice  or  refusal  of  every  one. 
A  good  heart  is  known  only  to  the  Searcher  of  all 
hearts.  God  gives  us  the  standard  ;  each  must  judge 
for  himself,  and  be  careful  to  judge  righteous  judg- 
ment. TJie  standard  is,  "A  good  man,  out  of  the 
good  treasure  of  the  heart,  bringeth  forth  good 
things."  Where  good  fruits  are  habitually  visible, 
it  is  always  fair  to  infer,  "  the  good  and  honest 
heart."  Let  us  be  thankful  that  God  has  told 
us,  "As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he." 
And  let  us  make  it  the  great  concern  of  our  life, 
that  we  have  the  Spirit  of  God  witnessing  with  our 
spirits,  that  we  are  his  redeemed  children.  Let  me 
see  and  know  this,  and  I  shall  be  prepared  to  say, 
"  Now,  Lord,  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 


40  SERMON    SECOND. 

Old  age,  I  find,  is  loquacious.  The  dear  children, 
then,  and  grandchildren,  will  bear  with  him  who 
now  addresses  them,  while  he  adds  another  para- 
graph. 

While  the  world  is  opening  around  you,  and  other 
things  innumerable  invite  your  attention,  it  gives 
your  aged  father  great  pleasure  to  know,  as  he  does, 
that  he  is  not  forgotten. 

Come  and  see  us,  as  often  as  you  can,  all  of  you. 

"The  lines  havp  fallen  to  us  in  pleasant  places," 
and,  in  the  good  Providence  of  our  God,  "  we  have 
a  goodly  heritage."  Its  inhabitants  pass  away,  but 
"  the  earth  abideth."  I  hope  that  part  of  it  which 
was  the  inheritance  of  your  ancestors  will  remain 
in  the  hands  of  their  descendants,  for  a  great 
while  yet  to  come.  So  long  as  I  am  here,  you  will 
find  it  one  of  your  homes.  As  we  occasionally  meet 
and  ramble  over  its  grounds,  objects  innumerable 
present  themselves,  associated  with  pleasurable  and 
profitable  reminiscences.  Here  may  be  seen  graves 
of  the  aborigines,  with  the  implements  of  their  til- 
lage, their  pestles,  their  arrow-heads,  their  stone 
flesh-pots,  and  other  domestic  utensils.  Their  war- 
whoop,  I  hope,  will  no  more  be  heard,  but,  instead, 
the  voices  of  industry  and  thrift,  of  civilization  and 
refinement,  and  with  them,  "Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  on  the  earth  peace  and  good-will  to  men !  " 

The  fish-pools  in  Heshbon,  by  the  gates  of  Beth- 
rabbim,  are  not  here,  nor  the  waters  of  Bethesda  and 
Siloam ;  but  we  can  show  you  our  meadows  with 
their  elms,  threaded,  for  hundreds  of  miles,  by  their 


SERMON    SECOND.  41 

Connecticut,  with  its  lovely  banks  and  currents.  The 
stately  mountains  of  Palestine,  Lebanon  and  Amana, 
Shenir  and  Hermon,  are  not  here  ;  but  peering 
around  the  horizon  may  be  seen,  in  the  distance, 
Hoosack,  Greylock,  and,  nearer  home,  Mount  Tom, 
Holyoke,  Sugar-loaf,  and  Mount  Warner,  with  all 
their  goodly  prospects,  groves,  and  fields,  and  vil- 
lages, with  their  churches,  school-houses,  and  work- 
shops, and  railroads,  and  flocks  and  herds. 

In  doors,  and  around  the  old  mansion,  as  you  look 
over  its  grounds  and  apartments,  you  observe  heir- 
looms in  profusion  of  former  times  and  former  occu- 
pants, both  "  pleasant  and  mournful  to  the  soul." 

Since  my  residence  here,  one  generation  has  passed 
away.  Another  stands  tottering  on  the  brink  of  the 
grave,  "  the  gleaning  of  the  grapes,  four  or  five,  on 
the  outmost  branches  thereof."  Four  of  your  num- 
ber, brothers  and  sisters,  uncles  and  aunts,  —  several 
in  infancy  and  childhood,  —  have  gone  on  before  you, 
showing  us  that  youth,  loveliness,  and  beauty  plead 
in  vain  for  exemption  from  the  sentence,  "  Dust  thou 
art,  and  to  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

One  those  who  have  known  never  will  forget.  One, 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  meet  you  with  smiles 
and  pleasant  greetings,  is  no  more  visible.  As  you 
go  from  one  apartment  to  another,  you  do  not  find 
her.  Go  with  me,  then,  to  our  bedside.  There  is  a 
striking  resemblance  of  what  she  was  in  the  loveli- 
ness of  youth ;  an  affecting  memorial  of  her,  who 
was  the  joy  and  delight  of  my  life,  to  advanced  age  ; 
the  first  object  that  strikes  my  eyes,  as  I  awake  in 

6 


42  SERMON    SECOND. 

the  morning,  and  the  last,  as  I  close  them  again  in 
sleep ;  the  image  of  her  who  received  some  of  you 
from  the  hand  of  our  Heavenly  Father  to  her  bosom  ; 
carried  you  in  infancy  to  the  baptismal  font ;  in 
childhood,  bore  you  daily,  in  the  arms  of  faith  and 
prayer,  to  the  throne  of  grace ;  and  who  led  you 
habitually,  in  youth,  "  into  the  green  pastures,"  and 
"  beside  the  still  waters  "  ;  who  nursed,  and  fed,  and 
clothed  you  in  tenderness  and  love,  when  you  were 
unable  to  provide  for  yourselves,  and  has  now  gone 
before,  to  welcome  those  who  are  prepared  for  a  hap- 
py reunion,  in  a  better  world. 

"  O  that  each,  in  the  day 
Of  Christ's  coming,  may  say, 
'  I  have  fought  my  way  through, — 
I  have  finished  the  work 
Thou  didst  give  me  to  do  !'  " 

"  O  that  each  from  the  Lord 
May  receive  the  glad  word, 
1  Well  and  faithfully  done ! 
Enter  into  my  joy, 
And  sit  down  on  my  throne  ! '  ' 


NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 


NOTES   TO   SERMONS. 


I. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


MY  DEAR  CHILDREN: — 

I  was  apprised,  at  the  outset,  that  what  I  was  about  to  say 
must  unavoidably  run  into  Autobiography,  and  gave  notice  of  it 
accordingly.  I  am  aware  that,  here  and  always,  all  boasting  is 
to  be  excluded.  Some  success  in  contending  with  our  spiritual 
enemies,  if  only  in  a  few  instances,  and  by  slow  degrees,  gives  ad- 
ditional courage  for  resisting  repeated  assaults,  as  well  as  strength 
for  renewed  efforts,  on  our  part,  to  meet  fresh  encounters.  On  the 
whole,  in  balancing  the  account,  I  venture  to  believe,  that  our 
destiny,  as  moral  agents,  is  hi  good  hands.  I  have  something  to 
say,  in  addition  to  what  I  have  already  said,  of  myself  in  early 
life.  I  had  then  religious  impressions.  I  am  not  sure  they  were 
of  the  right  kind.  I  recollect  more  of  fear,  than  I  do  of  love.  As 
far  back  as  I  can  remember,  my  mother  used  to  take  me  away, 
alone,  and  deal  very  faithfully  with  me,  as  a  perverse  and  head- 
strong child,  telling  me,  with  yearning  tenderness,  that  she  knew 
nothing  of  what  would  become  of  me.  She  very  early  in  life,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  as  I  have  been  often  told,  went  through  a  regu- 
lar conversion,  of  the  kind  that  have  been  common  in  later  re- 
vivals; joined  the  church  in  the  town  where  we  lived;  and  all 
her  life  gave  satisfactory  evidence  of  being  "born  again."  She 
was  indeed  a  happy  and  joyful  Christian.  I  knew  it;  and  sup- 
posed that,  if  I  had  not  evidence  of  a  similar  experience,  a  world 
of  woe  must  be  my  awful  portion.  When  tempted  to  what  I  knew 
was  not  right,  it  troubled  me  exceedingly ;  but  I  still  flattered  my- 
self, that  I  should  somehow  escape  what  I  so  much  dreaded.  One 


46  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

expedient  was,  I  determined  I  never  would  die.  Come  what  would, 
I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  draw  one  more  breath,  and  so  live  on, 
let  it  come  ever  so  hard  to  breathe,  till  I  could  get  into  the  habit 
of  breathing  again  freely  as  ever,  thus  hoping  for  a  space  of  re- 
pentance. I  did  not  tell  my  mother  of  my  plan ;  she,  of  course, 
did  not  withhold  necessary  discipline,  as  there  was  occasion  for  it. 
The  event  was,  that,  with  all  my  naughtiness,  I  continued  to  have 
religious  impressions,  and  some  success  in  baffling  the  tempter. 

After  the  death  of  Doctor  Williams,  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by 
different  preachers.  Mr.  Ely,  who  boarded  at  my  father's,  became 
a  candidate  for  settlement. 

The  first  that  I  remember  of  a  revival  was  about  this  time.  A 
number  of  young  people  came  weekly  to  Mr.  Ely's  chamber,  for 
a  conference  meeting,  which  with  us  was  entirely  a  new  thing.  In 
an  adjoining  room  through  the  door,  I  could  hear  all  that  was  said 
and  done;  where,  hour  after  hour,  I  sat  and  listened  with  un- 
speakable distress,  sometimes  rolling  on  the  floor  in  a  profusion 
of  tears.  The  trouble  was  not  from  any  particular  truth  or  senti- 
ment spoken,  but  that  they,  the  company  of  young  ladies,  associates 
of  my  sisters,  were  there,  invited  guests,  in  the  other  chamber,  to 
be  prepared  to  go  to  heaven,  but  the  door  was  shut  upon  me,  a 
poor  forgotten  boy  and  a  vile  sinner,  and  that  could  never  be 
admitted  as  one  of  the  chosen  few.  They  were  the  elect,  that  I 
had  learned  about  in  the  catechism ;  I  was  not  one.  I  was  afraid 
that  what  my  mother  had  told  me  might  prove  true  at  last,  and 
that  a  hopeless  hell  must  be  my  eternal  portion. 

I  had,  all  along,  been  flattering  myself  that  I  should  be  a  minis- 
ter, and  knew  I  might  be  good ;  and  sometimes  I  knew  I  endeav- 
ored to  be  so.  Good  old  Master  Tisdale  —  who  taught  me  my 
A,  B,  C,  and  onward,  far  beyond ;  who  was  the  oracle  of  the  day, 
in  all  good  learning,  in  the  region  round  about ;  and  who  could  Jit 
boys  for  college ;  and  who  could  teach  navigation,  and  the  art  of 
surveying  —  used  to  tell  me,  that  I  must  study  my  book,  be  a  good 
boy,  and  learn  to  be  a  minister. 

An  adventure  happened,  at  the  time  of  my  first  starting  to  go  to 
school,  which  I  shall  always  remember.  The  time  had  come,  and 
to  school  I  must  go.  My  sisters,  Rhoda  and  Eunice,  promised  to 
take  good  care  of  me,  and  felt  much  pleased  with  their  charge.  It 
was  thought  proper  to  have  my  first  day's  task  an  easy  one,  and 
therefore  to  defer  the  debut  till  afternoon.  The  walk  was  about 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  47 

a  mile.  Giving  one  hand  to  each  sister,  I  had  a  pleasant  time  of 
it,  till  within  a  few  rods  of  the  school-house.  It  was  the  time 
of  "  Nooning."  The  noise  of  fifty  boys,  inside  and  out,  racing  and 
roaring  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  was  something  to  me  altogether 
novel.  I  do  not  know  that  the  noise  of  a  thousand  buffaloes,  let 
loose  among  the  Rocky  Mountains,  would  have  been  more  fright- 
ful. It  was  no  school  for  me.  With  the  twitch  of  both  hands 
simultaneously  from  my  conductors,  I  made  for  home,  without 
hesitation;  and,  having  no  fear  of  truancy  before  my  eyes,  with 
all  possible  expedition.  Remonstrance  and  palaver  were  all  in 
vain. 

Here  the  matter  of  going  to  school  rested,  how  long  it  is  no  mat- 
ter. After  a  while,  however,  I  found  myself  pleasantly  ensconced 
with  the  good  old  Master  Tisdale,  in  the  "  brick  school-house," 
where  I  fitted  for  college  upon  very  good  terms.  After  prayers, 
heai-ing  the  Bible  class,  and  seating  the  older  scholars,  for  writing 
and  ciphering,  the  younger  ones  came  under  the  more  immediate 
notice  of  the  master.  After  hearing  them  read  and  spell  their  les- 
son, he  would  occasionally  indulge  himself  in  a  little  chat  with  the 
children,  in  their  A,  B,  C.  When  through  reading,  he  took  me, 
and  in  "  great  A,  little  a,  -ron,  Aaron,"  in  my  turn,  betwixt  his 
knees,  saying,  "  Dan,  what  do  you  intend  to  be,  a  minister,  or  a 
plough-jogger  ?  "  Without  hesitating  at  all,  I  replied,  "  A  minister, 
sir."  He  burst  out  into  a  broad  laugh.  "  Well,"  said  he,  rubbing 
my  head  with  his  hand,  and  patting  my  shoulder,  "  sit  down,  Dan ; 
study  your  lesson ;  be  a  good  boy,  and  we  will  see  about  your  being 
a  minister." 

I  never  lost  sight  of  what  seemed  so  much  to  please  both  the  old 
gentleman  and  his  pupils ;  and  sometimes,  on  the  Sabbath,  when 
left  at  home  with  the  colored  woman,  Tamar,  without  waiting  for  a 
more  regular  license  to  preach,  I  placed  her,  for  an  audience,  on 
the  lower  broad  stair,  taking  the  broad  stair  above  for  the  pulpit. 
What  the  doctrine  was,  or  what  the  impression  made  on  the  con- 
gregation, at  the  time,  I  am  not  able  to  say  ;  I  am  sure  it  was  all 
well  meant.  Tamar  was  a  very  grave  woman,  and  treated  the  ser- 
vices, at  the  time,  very  seriously,  and  frequently,  afterwards,  re- 
minded me  of  them  as  very  edifying.  I  presume  it  was  all  in  good 
harmony  with  confabulations  with  Master  Tisdale  and  others  on  the 
subject.  At  any  rate,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect,  it  was  in  early  life 
my  intention  to  make  preaching  my  profession  ;  and  this  impression 


48  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

was  an  incentive,  among  others,  to  a  proper  preparation  for  it. 
"What  the  preparation  amounted  to,  in  my  own  case,  I  pretend  not 
to  say.  I  speak  of  its  natural  tendency.  I  am  sure,  children  have 
religious  tendencies,  and  prepossessions, — a  natural  bent,  that  ought 
to  be  cultivated.  I  have  always  been  pleased  to  find  them  in  my 
own  heart,  and  to  observe  them  in  others.  I  have  always  thought 
much  of  religious  order  in  families,  and  the  greater  the  strictness 
and  earnestness,  the  better. 

My  only  brother,  William,  ten  or  twelve  years  older  than  myself, 
married,  about  the  time  I  am  speaking  of.  In  his  life,  he  was  a 
very  correct  young  man,  but  had  not,  at  that  time,  made  a  profes- 
sion, as  it  is  called.  I  was  afraid  he  would  not  observe  family 
prayers.  My  apprehensions  on  the  subject  amounted  to  anxiety. 
It  afforded  me  unspeakable  relief,  when  I  found  he  had  not  com- 
menced housekeeping  in  the  neglect  of  that  duty.  The  relief  of 
the  puerile  mind  was,  that,  if  I  had  not  begun  the  religious  life 
myself,  it  was  still  in  the  family,  and  that  I  should  not  be  finally 
overlooked.  The  old  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  Particular  Election 
had  its  salvos,  and  we  lived  on,  in  hope. 

In  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Ely  became  our  settled  minister  in 
Lebanon.  He  was  laboriously  faithful  for  the  advancement  of  his 
flock  in  the  divine  life.  Former  prejudices  subsided.  The  con- 
servatism of  the  day  yielded  to  a  commendable  liberality,  and 
well-tempered  zeal,  showing  itself  in  those  meetings  for  religious 
improvement  during  the  week,  called  conferences,  as  well  as  in 
greater  freedom  on  the  subject  of  religious  experience. 

From  the  day  of  the  great  Reformers,  the  Tennents,  and  the 
Davenports,  of  Edwards,  and  Bellamy,  and  Whitfield,  there  had 
been  fears,  if  not  prejudices,  among  our  best  people,  against  Separ- 
ates, New-Lights,  and  the  like,  which  had  a  reaction  unfavorable 
to  true  earnestness  on  the  subject.  This  was  done  away  in  a  short 
time,  under  the  ministry  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Ely.  Instead  of  vain, 
idle  meetings  of  young  people,  it  became  common  for  them  to  meet, 
in  the  evening,  for  reading,  conversing,  and  singing ;  inviting  Un- 
cle Oliver,  or  some  such  patriarch,  in  the  absence  of  the  minister, 
to  introduce  the  meeting  with  prayer.  Peculiar  intimacy  of  friend- 
ship and  confidence,  with  unusual  anxiety,  seemed  to  justify  still 
more  private  meetings  for  devotion. 

"When  I  speak  of  former  lukewarmness  in  our  religious  concerns, 
in  Lebanon,  I  would  by  no  means  intimate  that  before  this  there 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  49 

was  anything  like  a  general  laxity.  It  was  eminently  the  reverse. 
We  suffered  much,  in  this  respect,  as  the  whole  country  did,  by  the 
ten  years'  war  of  the  Revolution,  military  encampments,  &c.  All 
the  looseness  of  such  a  state  of  things  notwithstanding,  the  relig- 
ious society  —  and  there  was  but  one  in  what  was  called  the  cen- 
tral district  —  flourished.  The  meeting-house,  the  largest  I  ever 
saw,  was  filled  to  overflowing :  the  broad  aisle,  to  the  pulpit,  being 
filled  with  benches  for  the  children. 

They  had  made  trial  of  the  revival  system,  and  it  had  left  them 
unharmed.  The  object  of  the  travelling  preachers  was  to  do  good 
undoubtedly,  but  their  measures  had  sometimes  tended  to  the  divis- 
ion of  peaceable  societies.  The  doctors  of  the  day  were  afraid  of 
them.  Some  of  the  more  respectable  of  Doctor  Williams's  congre- 
gation wished  to  have  Mr.  Whitfield  himself  invited.  Doctor  Wil- 
liams, supported  by  Governor  Trumbull,  —  two  who,  like  Moses 
and  Aaron,  were  together  in  all  good  enterprises,  —  with  a  major- 
ity of  the  church,  were  slow  to  believe  that  the  labors  of  Whitfield 
were  on  the  whole  desirable.  At  length,  however,  objections  were 
overruled,  and,  to  make  sure  of  an  audience,  Mr.  Whitfield  came 
on,  at  the  time  appointed,  accompanied  by  a  goodly  number  of  un- 
tiring devotees,  —  a  Whitfieldian  cavalcade.  The  morning  services 
were  duly  attended.  The  ministers,  retiring  at  noon  for  refresh- 
ment, left  the  congregation  under  the  moderatorship  of  Deacon 
Huntington,  my  grandfather,  who  remained  for  a  religious  exercise 
among  themselves.  They  very  soon  became  noisy,  frantic,  head- 
strong, and  unmanageable.  The  Deacon  hastened,  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, to  resign  his  charge  as  moderator,  reporting  them  to  Mr. 
Whitfield  as  worse  than  any  mob  he  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of ; 
begging  Mr.  Whitfield  to  hasten  back,  and  take  care  of  them  him- 
self, as  soon  as  possible.  This  I  believe  may  serve  as  a  specimen 
of  the  revivals  of  the  day.  There  were  many  signal  conversions 
apparently,  the  effect  of  powerful  addresses  to  the  passions,  and 
accompanied  with  a  good  deal  of  downright  fanaticism,  extrava- 
gance, and  censoriousness,  not  remarkably  favorable  to  a  state  of 
society  such  as,  through  grace,  we  hope  to  find  in  the  better  Land. 
More  like  this  is  the  specimen  we  sometimes  have  had  of  revivals 
since  the  time  of  Whitfield  and  his  fellow-laborers. 

What  I  have  known  of  revivals,  as  I  have  been  personally  ac- 
quainted with  them  hi  my  native  town  and  elsewhere,  is  decidedly 
favorable.  I  am  thankful,  I  trust,  for  what  we  have  seen  and 


50  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

known  of  them,  as  seasons  of  "  refreshing  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord."  I  am  and  ever  have  been  the  friend  of  well-conducted 
revivals.  I  hope  my  dear  children  and  grandchildren  may  know 
experimentally,  if  necessary,  the  hopes  and  comforts  thence  de- 
rived. 

Where  I  first  settled  in  the  ministry,  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  re- 
ligion, in  its  power  and  purity,  had  been  greatly  neglected  for  many 
years.  There  was  unusual  attention  in  neighboring  towns;  at 
length  we  became  partakers  of  it.  It  pervaded  all  classes,  and 
there  was  great  joy  and  gladness  amongst  us.  It  lasted  more  than 
two  years.  In  the  several  denominations  of  Christians,  about  three 
hundred  publicly  professed  themselves  subjects  of  the  Gospel  hope, 
among  whom  I  never  knew  an  instance  of  apostasy  or  backsliding. 
In  saying  this,  I  must  explain  myself. 

More  that  was  visibly  valuable,  at  the  time,  may  be  fairly  at- 
tributed to  the  previous  discipline  of  families  and  schools,  and  to 
the  training  of  Sabbatical  institutions,  and  the  good  examples,  and 
other  means,  around  them,  than  to  anything  new  they  saw,  or  heard, 
or  felt,  in  the  time  of  the  revival.  "Where  God  and  his  Son  are 
known  and  adored,  and  loved,  and  served,  in  common  life,  and  out 
of  sight  of  the  world,  —  is  not  this  pure  religion?  Thousands  en- 
joy religion,  who  do  not  see  their  way  clear  to  make  a  profession. 
Keligion  as  it  encounters  a  censorious  world  is  of  a  retiring  charac- 
ter. The  sensitive  mind  dreads  peculiar  notice.  It  is  afraid  also 
of  self-deception.  It  trembles  at  the  thought  of  entertaining  a  false 
hope.  It  shrinks  from  the  charge  of  saying,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  while 
living  in  disobedience  or  indifference.  It  is  reluctant  to  encounter 
the  sneers  of  the  scoffer.  It  cannot  subscribe  to  the  forms  of  secta- 
rians and  errorists.  And  where  there  is  no  immediate  excitement, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  one's  way  clear,  in  taking  a  step  that  attracts 
notice. 

Now,  seasons  of  special  attention  remove  such  objections.  Re- 
ligion becomes  fashionable,  so  to  speak.  A  great  deal  to  be  said, 
and  done,  becomes  the  order  of  the  day,  rather  than  too  much  re- 
serve. The  danger  now  is,  of  knowing  and  doing  too  much.  It 
is  generally  known,  and  proclaimed  from  the  house-top,  who  are 
converted,  with  every  shade  of  difference,  from  those  just  begin- 
ning to  be  awakened  to  those  who  are  sanctified  and  confirmed 
beyond  the  possibility  of  falling  from  grace.  In  modern  revivals, 
saints  and  sinners  have  in  some  places  particular  seats  assigned 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  51 

them  at  public  meetings,  and  these  are  addressed,  both  in  prayer 
and  exhortation,  according  to  the  different  degrees  of  anxiety  or 
peace  with  which  they  may  be  visited,  and  sometimes  in  prayer 
are  called  by  name. 

It  is  announced,  also,  when  God  is  "  on  his  way  "  to  a  particular 
place,  to  "  revive  his  work  " ;  when  he  has  arrived ;  and  how  long 
he  will  stay ;  what  will  provoke  him  to  leave ;  and  the  probability, 
if  he  leave,  that  he  will  not  soon  return,  if  ever ;  —  all  antagonistic 
to  the  great  idea  of  the  omnipresence  of  our  Heavenly  Father, 
and  his  readiness  to  be  found  of  them  that  call  upon  him. 

For  all  these  and  the  like  extravagances  there  is  a  remedy ; 
and  our  ministers  and'  their  churches  are  becoming  more  and 
more  sensible  of  it.  Hence  the  importance  of  light  and  grace 
and  truth  by  Jesus  Christ.  Under  their  influence  it  is,  that  we  are 
hoping  for  a  more  general  and  thorough  reformation,  under  a  truly 
Evangelical  theology.  United  in  the  faith  and  fellowship  of  the 
Gospel,  might  we  not  hope  to  become  familiar  with  revivals  more 
unalloyed  by  pride  and  party,  and  more  enduring?  Too  often 
have  our  revivals  been  but  of  short  continuance.  To  wear  well, 
they  need  thorough  examination.  To  be  perfect,  they  must  be 
pure  and  perpetual.  To  this  end  our  prayer  must  be,  "  Lord,  re- 
vive thy  work."  "  Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  done  in  heaven."  Having  this  kingdom  in  our  hearts  and 
homes,  we  have  a  delightful  prelibation  of  what  we  hope  to  know 
more  of,  hereafter,  under  the  reign  of  "  peace  on  earth,  and  good- 
will to  men." 

It  is  at  the  same  time  to  be  remembered,  that  pure  religion  does 
not  depend  upon  revivals.  There  are  several  things  that  are  de- 
cidedly and  flagrantly  exceptionable,  both  in  their  instrumentalities 
and  in  their  results.  The  Divine  and  the  human  are  both  visible 
in  them,  as  in  other  important  events :  and  to  judge  of  them  aright, 
it  is  essential  to  discriminate.  They  have  their  mission.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  the  hand  of  God  is  in  them,  and  that  there  is  some- 
thing to  be  learned  by  them. 

Revivals  and  awakenings  are  sent;  so  are  the  anomalies  and 
irregularities  that  follow  in  their  train.  Great  revivals,  and  those 
that  have  given  to  me  the  best  evidences  of  genuineness,  are  those 
that  have  followed  seasons  of  the  greatest  indifference  and  stupidity, 
from  which  it  seemed,  at  the  time,  that  nothing  could  arouse  the 
people  but  the  mighty  power  of  God,  in  a  revival.  It  was  emi- 


52  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

nently  so  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  the  place  already  mentioned,  where 
I  was  first  a  minister.  This  town  was  originally  among  the  num- 
ber of  those  decidedly  opposed  to  the  movements  of  former  re- 
vivalists ;  and  went  so  far,  in  a  regular  church  meeting  called 
expressly  for  the  purpose  under  the  ministry  of  the  venerable 
Mr.  Rollins,  as  to  let  them  know,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  that  they 
did  not  wish  to  see  them.  The  effect  was,  they  did  not  come. 
The  report  circulated,  that  Litchfield  had  "  voted  Christ  out  of  their 
borders."  It  was  noticed  by  some  of  the  older  people,  that  the 
death  of  the  last  person  then  a  member  of  the  Church  was  a  short 
time  before  the  commencement  of  our  revival.  It  was  well  remem- 
bered, and  spoken  of  as  somewhat  remarkable,  and  not  without  its 
effect.  An  account  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  Connecticut  Relig- 
ious Magazine  of  about  1813.  Excepting  in  a  few  families,  there 
was  but  little  visible  of  the  power  of  religion ;  and  practical  piety 
was  at  a  low  ebb.  For  two  or  three  years  after  my  settlement, 
but  few  additions  were  made  to  the  Church ;  and  very  rarely  were 
revivals  spoken  of  as  desirable.  In  neighboring  towns,  they  were 
common ;  and  respectable  missionaries  visited  us,  for  whom  it  was 
not  judged  proper  to  appoint  lectures.  All  this  indifference  not- 
withstanding, it  was  still,  in  social  circles,  the  subject  of  prayer. 
And  in  answer  to  prayer,  apparently,  at  length  the  blessing  came. 
It  was  the  still,  small  voice,  and  but  little  was  said  about  it  for  a 
time.  The  first  visible  manifestation  any  way  general  was  in  the 
house  of  God,  on  Sabbath  morning.  The  chapter  read  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  service  was  expressive  of  the  long-suffering 
tenderness  of  our  Heavenly  Father  toward  his  ungrateful  and  back- 
sliding children,  as  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hosea :  "  How  shall 
I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim?  How  shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah? 
How  shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim  ?  My  heart  is  turned  within  me, 
my  repentings  are  kindled  together."  The  hymn  followed,  in  the 
same  strain  of  tender  remonstrance.  It  was  a  barbed  arrow,  deeply 
felt  A  large  choir  of  young  people  rose  to  sing.  The  aching 
heart,  the  trembling  lip,  and  the  bedimmed  eye  forbade  them 
to  proceed.  Two  or  three  made  a  faint  attempt  to  sing,  but  in  a 
few  moments  every  mouth  was  shut,  and,  one  after  another,  all 
were  soon  in  their  seats.  The  silence  of  death  seemed  to  pervade 
the  assembly.  In  the  language  of  the  passage  just  read,  their  re- 
pentings were  kindled  together,  —  subsiding,  at  length,  at  different 
seasons,  into  that  peace  and  joy  with  which  the  stranger  inter- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  53 

meddleth  not :  a  visitation  of  Divine  Providence  in  which  the  differ- 
ent denominations  were  sharers,  felt  doubtless,  in  that  community, 
with  fervent  gratitude  to  the  present  hour,  and  which  probably 
never  will  be  forgotten. 

I  have  said  enough,  my  dear  children,  to  give  you  my  ideas  of 
revivals. 

I  return  to  the  narrative  of  my  own  personal  history.  I  never 
was  personally,  that  I  know,  the  subject  of  a  revival  experience. 

From  the  time  I  was  speaking  of,  I  continued  at  home,  work- 
ing on  the  farm,  and  at  school,  intermediately,  till  I  became  a 
member  of  Yale  College;  habitually  serious-minded,  though  not 
a  professor,  and  having  constantly  in  view,  as  the  pole-star  of 
professional  life,  the  Gospel  ministry. 

The  College  at  that  time  was  at  its  lowest  ebb,  as  to  good  litera- 
ture, morals,  and  religion.  The  excellent  President  was  in  his 
dotage.  The  venerable  Professor  Wales  was  disabled  by  disease. 
Good  order  and  discipline  were,  of  course,  prostrate.  Those  in 
highest  repute  for  talent  and  scholarship  were  generally  tainted 
with  a  shallow,  flippant  Tom  Paine  infidelity.  Almost  imper- 
ceptibly, I  found  myself  early  tinctured  with  scepticism.  A 
young  friend,  a  relative  in  a  class  above  me,  not  a  model,  however, 
of  Christian  excellence  himself,  perceiving  my  danger,  kindly  took 
me  aside,  asked  me  what  I  was  doing,  and  what  I  supposed  my 
father  would  say,  and  how  he  would  feel,  if  he  knew  that  I  was 
becoming  a  deist.  Though  it  came  from  a  person  not  professing 
religion  or  seriousness,  it  was  from  a  cousin,  and  a  word  in  season. 
This,  I  believe,  is  the  first  and  the  last  of  my  doubting  as  to  the 
authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  sacred  volume.  There  was  a 
meeting  of  a  few  young  men,  of  the  upper  classes,  in  College,  on 
Saturday  evenings,  for  prayer  and  conference,  which  President 
Stiles  used  to  speak  of  as  the  gold-dust  of  College,  to  which  I 
attached  myself,  in  which  I  found  a  sustaining  and  healthful 
influence. 

I  think  of  nothing  worthy  of  any  particular  notice,  during  my 
College  life,  excepting  a  wish  to  sustain  a  good  standing  for  scholar- 
ship and  character.  It  was  uppermost  in  my  mind,  to  obtain  suita- 
ble evidence  of  the  good  hope  of  the  Gospel,  which  I  did,  so  far  as 
to  partake,  on  a  credible  profession,  in  the  communion  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  for  the  first  time,  in  Suffield,  where  I  was  teaching  a  school, 
just  about  the  time  of  graduating.  Our  class  dined  together,  at  the 


54  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

examination  for  a  degree,  where  I  was  called  upon  to  lead  in  the 
religious  exercises  at  the  table :  the  first  time  I  ever  opened  my 
mouth,  publicly,  in  a  religious  service.  At  the  Commencement,  I 
accepted  an  invitation  to  a  tutorship  in  Williams  College,  (then 
quite  in  its  infancy,)  for  two  years,  where  I  boarded  with  President 
Fitch,  and  under  his  tuition  had  a  favorable  opportunity  for  occa- 
sional discussion  of  topics  that  had  a  bearing  upon  my  intended 
profession. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  engagement,  I  was  invited  to  a  similar 
station  in  Yale,  under  the  Presidency  of  Doctor  Dwight.  During 
the  summer,  before  leaving  Williamstown,  Mr.  Swift,  the  minister, 
invited  me  to  attend  Association,  with  him,  then  about  to  sit,  at 
Tyringham,  —  saying  to  me,  "  If  you  have  a  sermon,  put  it  in  your 
pocket ;  perhaps  we  may  do  something  for  you  that  you  will  not 
be  sorry  for."  I  wanted  the  exercise,  and  accepted  the  invitation. 
I  found  myself,  on  arrival,  in  company  with  two  young  gentlemen 
before  the  Association,  where,  after  reading  each  his  sermon,  and 
answering  a  few  theological  questions,  we  were  all  presented  with 
a  license,  as  candidates  for  the  ministry.  There  was,  at  that  time, 
very  little  ceremony  in  admitting  a  young  man  to  preach.  "Wher- 
ever the  examination  sermon  went,  after  this,  it  had  for  a  time  to 
go  alone  ;  as  it  did  on  a  Sabbath  following,  into  the  desk  of  Rev. 
Doctor  Swift,  of  Bennington ;  and  afterwards,  into  the  desks  of 
several  other  reverend  gentlemen  in  Berkshire  County. 

After  going  to  New  Haven,  what  time  I  had  to  spare  I  contin- 
ued, under  the  instruction  of  Doctor  Dwight,  to  devote  to  my  pro- 
fession, occasionally  writing  a  sermon  or  a  dissertation.  As  the 
door  was  open,  I  preached,  as  a  supply,  to  vacant  parishes,  in  New 
Haven  and  neighboring  towns.  During  the  first  vacation,  I  spent 
three  weeks  in  Litchfield  ;  their  minister,  Mr.  Champion,  from  the 
infirmities  of  age,  having  suspended  his  labors. 

After  two  or  three  supplies  of  the  same  kind,  it  appeared  to  be 
the  wish  of  the  people  to  have  me  for  their  minister ;  for  which, 
in  God's  Providence,  the  way  was  prepared,  after  a  pleasant  ac- 
quaintance of  about  two  years,  I  preaching  there  at  times,  during 
vacations.  In  accepting  their  call  to  settle,  my  own  plans  were 
entirely  frustrated.  Man  appoints,  God  disappoints.  The  current, 
about  this  time,  was  toward  the  settlement  of  the  Connecticut  Re- 
serve lands,  alias  "  New  Connecticut,"  alias  Ohio ;  then  a  border 
territory,  whither  a  vast  population,  from  New  England,  were  press- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  55 

ing  onward,  and  where  there  are  now  more  than  one  million  of  in- 
habitants. My  plan  was  to  go  among  the  crowd ;  to  plant  myself 
on  an  elevation,  or  a  gentle  declivity  well  wooded  and  well  watered, 
there  to  ensconce  myself  in  a  humble  home,  where  improvements 
could  be  made,  as  they  were  necessary  ;  where  I  could  read  or 
write,  labor  in  heart,  or  by  hand ;  study  and  preach,  as  the  door 
might  be  open ;  stationary  or  missionary  there  to  grow  up,  and 
grow  old,  with  the  country  around,  as  life  might  be  protracted,  and 
health  continued ;  or  otherwise,  at  the  disposal  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence. It  has  been  wisely  ordered  otherwise. 

After  the  close  of  my  engagement  at  Yale  in  September,  1798, 1 
was  ordained,  in  October,  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  Litchfield. 
A  delightful  village,  on  a  fruitful  hill,  richly  endowed  with  its 
schools,  both  professional  and  scientific,  and  their  accomplished 
teachers  ;  with  its  venerable  governors  and  judges  ;  with  its  learned 
lawyers,  and  senators,  and  representatives,  both  in  the  national  and 
State  departments ;  and  with  a  population  enlightened  and  respecta- 
ble,—  Litchfield  was  now  in  its  glory.  I  came  among  them  without 
patrimony ;  but  with  their  assistance,  in  a  handsome  settlement,  as 
it  was  called,  of  a  thousand  dollars,  and  four  hundred  salary,  I  soon 
found  myself  in  a  way  to  be  comfortably  at  home  among  them, 
with  a  neat  domicile  of  my  own.  A  cage  it  was,  without  a  bird ; 
and  too  frequently  was  it  suggested,  by  my  good  parishioners,  to  be 
disregarded.  There  was  more  to  be  known,  all  along,  than  was 
told ;  I  was  always  the  friend  of  matrimony.  The  new  relation  I 
had  now  assumed  naturally  reminded  me  of  another,  none  the  less 
inviting.  1  Timothy  iii.  2. 

Through  the  friendship  of  Doctor  Dwight,  an  honor  I  am  always 
proud  to  acknowledge,  I  had  the  happiness  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  family  which  has  thus  far  proved  the  source  and  means  of 
my  earthly  felicity.  The  romance  of  the  attending  circumstances 

—  including  the  planting  of  the  bird  in  its  cage,  a  long  journey  over 
frozen  ground,  through  snow-banks,  and  amid  the  storms  of  winter 

—  will  hardly  be  expected,  I  think,  from  an  octogenary,  writing 
rather  sportively  to  his  children,  on  a  serious  subject ;  for  a  serious 
subject  it  is  after  all.     On  this,  as  on  all  other  subjects,  all  is  well 
that  ends  well.     If  you  would  know  more  about  it,  my  dear  chil- 
dren, try  it  for  yourselves  when  the  time  comes.     What  say  you  to 
a  courtship  of  a  year  or  two,  without  an  engagement  ?  the  heart, 
without  the  hand  ?    the  apparent  affection,  but   not  the  promise? 


56  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

anterior  to  the  marriage  vow  ?  I  could  furnish  you  an  example  of 
all  this,  and  it  is  natural  to  say,  —  all  boasting  excluded,  as  usual, 
—  that  in  this  case  it  turned  out  well.  If  mutual,  why  is  it  not 
fair  ?  Is  it  any  incentive  to  caprice  ?  If  not,  why  is  it  not,  on  the 
whole,  the  safer  way  ? 

The  day  of  the  marriage,  here  referred  to,  is  the  first  day  of  the 
first  week  of  the  first  month  of  the  nineteenth  century,  January  1, 
A.  D.  1801. 

Here  I  am,  then,  planted  down  in  social  life  with  a  fair  prospect 
for  usefulness,  in  a  companionship  every  way  conducive  to  domes- 
tic comfort  and  every  earthly  enjoyment.  Happy,  could  it  have 
been  longer  continued.  It  was  ordered  otherwise.  My  dependence 
for  support  was  the  settlement  above  mentioned,  and  four  hundred 
dollars  salary.  The  offer  was  made,  before  my  leaving  Xew  Ha- 
ven. My  friends  there  told  me  I  never  could  live  upon  it  I  told 
them,  their  promises  at  Litchfield  were  fair,  in  case  of  insufficiency. 
Doctor  Dwight,  I  remember,  told  me  a  story,  as  he  often  did,  of  a 
Northampton  man,  I  believe  it  was  a  Mr.  Lyman.  The  man  had 
a  son  much  in  the  same  predicament  as  I  was.  His  father  asked 
him,  if  he  could  live  upon  the  salary  offered  him.  He  replied, 
"  Father,  the  people  are  very  able,  and  very  generous  ;  it  is  a 
county  town ;  thirty  or  forty  professional  characters ;  schools  of 
every  grade  ;  great  geniuses  among  them  ;  and  they  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  making  liberal  presents  to  their  former  minister,  and 
doubtless  will  continue  them."  His  father's  reply  was,  "  Bind  'em, 
John."  "  They  will  supply  me  with  firewood,  father,  as  they  have 
always  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  for  their  minister,  —  of  course." 
"  Bind  'em,  John."  "  But  father,  they  have  to  pay  their  former 
minister,  now  worn  out  with  age  and  faithful  services,  his  whole 
salary,  which  was  only  £100  ($  333.331),  from  which  they  expect 
soon  to  be  released,  and  which,  they  say,  can  just  as  well  be  added 
to  mine  as  not  if  I  survive."  The  reply  still  was,  "  Bind  'em,  John." 
How  it  came  out  with  John,  I  cannot  say.  My  own  case,  very  sim- 
ilar, I  shall  not  soon  forget ;  and  it  will  be  well  for  us  all  not  to 
forget  the  old  proverb,  "  A  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the 
bush " ;  and  another  we  all  remember,  "  They  that  wait  for  dead 
men's  shoes  may  go  barefoot." 

For  years,  the  support  of  my  family  was  eked  out,  by  bountiful 
contributions  from  abroad,  as  well  as  at  home,  particularly  from 


AUTOBIOGKAPHY.  57 

Forty  Acres.*  My  wife  had  parents,  blessed  be  the  memory  of 
their  generous  souls  !  who  from  their  abundance  would  not  suffer 
their  daughter  for  a  day  to  live  in  want  of  comforts  appropriate  to 
her  station,  and  which  they  were  able  to  afford  her.  As  the  wants 
of  an  increasing  family  required,  wagon-loads  and  sleigh-loads  of 
things  necessary  to  the  body  were  sent  us  gratuitously,  from  year 
to  year,  above  seventy  miles.  To  say  nothing  of  my  own  feelings, 
my  people  seemed  too  well  pleased  with  it  to  suit  my  notion.  I 
have  ever  felt  bound  to  support  my  family  honorably,  and  nobody 
that  I  ever  heard  of  ever  accused  us  of  any  extravagance.  If  they 
had  ever  offered  me  more  salary,  I  should  probably  have  accepted 
it ;  but  I  did  not  think  proper  to  ask  for  it,  because  I  never  knew 
additions  thus  made  to  a  salary  that  had  a  desirable  effect.  There 
was  apt  to  be  a  meddling  with  motives,  accompanied  with  hard 
speeches,  always  ungracious.  And  when  I  say  this,  I  would  add, 
that  at  the  time  of  my  dismission  I  had  no  prospect  for  the  future, 
—  either  as  to  parish,  position,  or  salary, —  whatever.  The  proposi- 
tion for  a  dismissal  was  submitted  to  a  mutual  council,  who  reported 
unanimously  in  favor  of  it,  upon  the  condition  that,  estimating  a 
ministerial  life  at  fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  a  proportional  part  of 
the  settlement  should  be  refunded,  which  was  done. 

I  am  thus  particular  on  this  point,  because,  at  a  late  general 
meeting  of  the  Consociation  at  Litchfield,  it  was  observed  by  one 
of  the  speakers,  that  it  was  not  generally  understood  what  the  rea- 
sons were  for  my  asking  for  a  dismission.  It  is  quite  as  unaccount- 
able to  me  that  any  brother  so  near  my  professional  standing 
should  not  know  those  reasons  ;  though  I  have  not  the  least  suspi- 
cion of  any  lack  of  integrity,  or  friendship,  in  him  who  made  the 
observation.  If  any  are  still  inclined  to  doubt,  they  may  find  relief 
in  knowing  that  the  parish  in  Litchfield  very  soon  found  the  means 
of  giving  my  immediate  successor  just  double  what  they  gave  me 
as  salary ;  and  that,  within  eight  years,  I  was  obliged  to  be  dis- 
missed again,  from  one  of  the  best  parishes  in  Connecticut,  because  I 
knew  from  my  journal  that  my  salary  of  $  800  then  came  short  of 
my  support,  in  city  life,  by  a  considerable  amount.  In  neither  of 
these  cases  have  I  ever  had  any  idea  of  relinquishing  my  profes- 
sion, pay  or  no  pay.  I  have  never  refused  to  preach,  as  the  door 
was  open,  and  to  my  dying  day  I  never  shall.  If  I  were  to  live 

*  A  particular  spot  in  Old  Hadley,  where  I  found  ray  wife. 


58  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

my  life  over  again,  the  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry  would  be  that 
which  I  should  prefer  ;  not  hesitating,  at  the  same  time,  to  proclaim 
that  they  who  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel.  If 
we  have  the  taste,  and  the  talent,  and  the  inclination,  and  the  edu- 
cation, and  the  vocation,  to  preach,  we  are  entitled  to  a  livelihood 
from  it ;  and  if  not,  we  may  know  that  preaching  is  not  limited  to 
the  sounding-board  of  a  chapel,  nor  any  particular  location.  "The 
field  is  the  world."  And  it  is  well  if  we  feel  that  "  from  the  abun- 
dance of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh,"  and  may  speak.  In  the 
workshop,  on  the  farm,  at  the  depot,  in  the  academic  hall,  and 
especially  in  the  family,  is  there  an  inviting  field  of  action  for  us  all, 
laboring  diligently  in  what  the  hand  findeth  to  do  for  the  happiness 
of  those  around  us,  "  knowing  that  our  labor,  in  the  Lord,  shall  not 
be  in  vain." 

The  journey  of  my  life  has  not  been  crowded  with  incidents  for 
your  entertainment.  Though  rather  protracted  as  to  its  continu- 
ance, yet  as  to  the  distance  of  its  travels  it  has  been  limited.  The 
voyage  has  been  rather  confined  to  the  quiet  shores  of  the  Pacific. 
Where  I  have  found,  here  and  there,  a  shoal  or  a  snag,  I  have 
planted  my  buoys,  that  those  who  came  after  might  be  apprised  of 
the  danger.  Where  I  have  found  a  commodious  harbor,  I  have 
sometimes  cast  anchor.  In  the  delightful  harbor  of  Litchfield  we 
often  had  high  political  winds,  but  generally  so  managed  as  to 
weather  the  gale.  We  had  here,  on  shipboard,  a  high-toned  crew, 
but  they  were  friends  who  might  be  relied  on  in  an  emergency. 
One  adventure  occurred  which  I  must  not  omit  to  relate. 

While  there,  I  became  involved  in  a  lawsuit.  Party  spirit,  in 
politics,  was  rampant.  It  was  at  a  time  when  political  gales,  Fed- 
eral and  Democrat,  were  at  their  height.  Though  a  decided  Fed- 
eralist in  politics,  I  was  not  apprised  of  being  a  zealous  partisan. 
But  somehow  I  said  something  at  the  post-oifice.  What,  I  could 
not  now  tell,  for  my  life.  It  was  denominated  "  a  lie."  It  was  first 
observed  in  The  Mercury,  the  mouth-piece  of  the  Democratic  party, 
printed  at  Hartford ;  and  was  going,  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  my  good  friends, 
the  Federalists,  and  my  parishioners.  It  must  be  known  if  the 
minister  of  Town  Hill  was  a  liar.  How  ?  The  editor  of  the  Mer- 
cury must  be  prosecuted  forthwith.  Messrs.  David  Daggett  of 
New  Haven,  John  Allen  and  James  Gould  of  Litchfield,  as  my  at- 
torneys, undertook  the  business  in  good  earnest.  They  managed  it 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  59 

well.  In  due  time,  a  verdict  of  the  jury  in  the  Superior  Court  was 
obtained,  in  my  favor,  with  the  award  of  $  1,000  damages,  which 
was  paid.  I  will  dismiss  the  subject,  with  an  anecdote.  One  of  the 
attorneys  for  the  defendant  was  rather  a  noisy  brother,  and  thought 
proper  to  say,  in  a  way  of  vindication,  before  the  court,  that  "  He 
did  not  believe,  as  some  did,  that  the  clergy  were  a  privileged  or- 
der, and  that  so,  when  guilty  of  a  crime,  they  might  go  unwhipped 
of  justice  ;  no,  far  to  the  contrary.  We  read  of  one  of  the  order, 
in  the  Bible,  so  abandoned  that  the  mouth  of  the  dumb  ass  was 
opened  for  his  reproof."  "  Yes,  may  it  please  your  Honors,"  said 
Mr.  Daggett,  in  his  turn,  after  repeating  what  was  said  by  his 
brother  Smith,  "  the  mouth  of  the  dumb  ass  was  opened,  and  it 
was  not  the  last  of  the  species  whose  mouth  had  been  opened  to  abuse 
the  clergy." 

Such  was  the  metal  of  the  times.  The  charge  of  the  plaintiff 
was  a  base  slander.  The  award  was  no  more  than  a  suitable 
amercement.  If  it  is  thought  otherwise,  and  can  be  shown  to  be 
unjust,  I  hope  my  heirs  may  not  withhold  it  when  suitably  called 
for. 

Within  a  year  from  leaving  Litchfield,  I  was  settled  in  Middle- 
town,  Doctor  J.  Lyman  of  Hatfield,  Massachusetts,  preaching  the 
Installation  Sermon. 

To  make  sure  of  an  honorable  living,  I  opened  my  house  for  a 
boarding-school.  It  was  liberally  patronized.  My  people  made  no 
complaint.  Still  I  was  not  satisfied  that  this  part  of  my  employ- 
ment was  altogether  compatible  with  the  duties  of  my  profession. 
And  after  trying  awhile,  without  any  particular  misfortune,  I  found 
my  income  did  not  meet  the  expenses  of  an  increasing  establish- 
ment, in  the  style  of  a  city  life.  I  was  discouraged,  and  withal  not 
in  good  health,  from  confinement.  I  asked,  again,  for  an  honorable 
dismission,  which  I  obtained  without  difficulty. 

I  found  a  pleasant  retreat  on  the  patrimony  of  my  wife,  where  I 
now  live,  a  tenant  by  courtesy,  with  all  that  heart  may  wish.  We 
came  to  Hadley  to  reside  in  1816.  Our  mother,  Mrs.  Phelps,  who 
had  been  a  widow  about  two  years,  survived  her  husband,  from  this 
time,  about  as  long. 

There  was  now  a  school  in  Hadley  of  the  higher  order,  erected 
on  what  was  called  the  "  Hopkins  Fund,"  consigned  originally  to 
the  guardianship  of  a  few  gentlemen,  who  were  to  fill  their  own 
vacancies ;  and  to  these  funds  the  town  had  made  a  handsome  do- 


60  SOTES  TO  SERMONS. 

nation,  in  land,  in  the  north  part  of  Hadley,  called  School  Meadow. 
Soon  after  my  removal,  they  erected,  upon  a  lot  in  the  Front  Street 
near  the  meeting-house,  a  large  three-story  brick  building,  and  with 
the  help  of  half  a  township  of  Maine  land,  presented  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State,  were  organized  in  due  form  Trustees  of  the  Hop- 
Idas  Academy.  Of  this  Academy  I  had  the  immediate  superintend- 
ence several  years.  It  has  been,  for  the  most  part,  a  flourishing 
institution ;  and  lately,  in  concert  with  the  town,  the  experiment  has 
been  on  trial  of  a  High,  and  partially  a  Free  School ;  and  has  been 
thought  favorably  of. 

As  to  the  general  course  of  my  religious  life,  it  has  been  essen- 
tially the  same  as  formerly,  excepting  that  for  the  last  forty  years 
my  ministerial  services  have  been  those  of  the  evangelist,  rather 
than  those  of  the  stated  pastor.  My  training,  in  early  life,  was 
strictly  Calvinistic.  Where  I  began  my  professional  studies,  and 
where  I  was  licensed  to  preach,  Hopkins's  "  Body  of  Divinity " 
was  the  text-book,  and  generally  subscribed  to  in  the  county  and 
community.  Speculatively,  I  was  thoroughly  Hopkinsian.  My 
feelings,  so  far  as  I  recollect,  were,  in  the  best  sense,  catholic.  I 
could  believe  my  neighbor  was  a  good  man,  though  we  might  differ 
in  our  opinions  on  important  subjects.  I  had  a  trial  of  this  at  an 
early  period.  I  had  a  brother  Tutor,  at  Williamstown,  afterwards 
the  minister  of  Peterborough,  New  Hampshire,  both  of  us  intending 
to  preach,  though  of  different  schools.  Frequent  good-natured  dis- 
cussions brought  us  no  nearer  together.  To  convince  me  that  he 
was  right,  he  had  recourse  to  a  miracle  of  his  own  working.  He 
had  found  out,  by  his  studies,  that  vinegar  was  so  much  of  a  corro- 
sive to  an  egg-shell  as  to  take  off  the  enamel.  "Writing  a  word  on 
the  shell  with  melted  tallow,  after  putting  the  egg  in  vinegar,  the 
letters  are  left  entire  and  prominent,  with  a  beautiful  enamel,  the 
other  parts  of  the  shell  becoming  rough  and  discolored.  He  wrote 
upon  the  egg  the  sentence,  "  "Woe  to  Hopkinsians ! "  and  put  the 
smaller  end  of  the  egg  in  the  socket  of  the  candlestick  upon  my  ta- 
ble. There  it  was  in  the  morning,  in  bold  relief,  and  very  legible. 
My  Freshman  did  not  fail  to  notice  it ;  and  by  the  time  the  morning 
recitation  was  through,  my  chamber  was  full  of  curious  speculators 
in  theology,  with  their  amusing  observations.  As  they  were  leav- 
ing the  room,  one  bawled  out,  in  the  presence  of  my  brother  Tutor, 
"  It  was  a  darned  old  Arminian  hen,  I  know,  that  laid  that  egg  " ; 
and  so  left  the  operator  to  determine  who  had  the  best  of  the  joke. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  61 

The  anecdote  shows  that  the  controversy  of  our  school  was  not  a 
very  bitter  one. 

The  first  sermon  I  ever  wrote,  though  the  offspring  of  Berkshire 
County,  and  written  by  a  disciple  of  Hopkins,  was,  I  am  inclined 
to  think,  rather  of  a  liberal  character.  The  doctrine  of  that  sermon 
was  what  every  man  ought  to  feel  and  live  upon,  —  scil.,  that  our 
character,  in  the  sight  of  God,  is  according  to  the  heart,  —  from  the 
text,  "  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he  "  ;  not  that  a  person 
is  right  because  he  thinks  he  is,  as  it  has  sometimes  been  construed, 
but  because  the  taste,  the  disposition,  the  habitual  temper  of  his 
heart,  is  right  towards  God.  The  other  construction  would  be  not 
properly  liberal,  but  absolutely  licentious. 

Several  years  after,  passing  through  Berkshire,  subsequent  to  a 
change  of  some  of  my  views  of  doctrines,  for  "  strange  doctrines," 
as  they  are  called  by  some,  I  suppose,  I  called  upon  several  gen- 
tlemen who  were  among  those  that  gave  me  license  to  preach,  who 
I  found  had  not  forgotten  me.  In  conversation,  afterwards,  at  his 
house,  with  Doctor  Hyde  of  Lee,  in  allusion  to  the  sermon  I  read 
upon  that  occasion,  which  was  the  one  just  mentioned,  he  said, 
"  From  the  sermon  you  read  at  your  examination,  I  was  always 
afraid  you  were  not  quite  right."  From  this,  as  well  as  from  other 
causes,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that,  from  the  outset,  I  have  been 
inclined  to  a  generous  spirit  of  evangelical  liberality. 

On  one  occasion,  however,  I  found  myself  publicly  on  Hopkin- 
sian  ground,  at  least  in  the  apprehension  of  a  venerable  old  gentle- 
man, who  heard  me  preach  at  Stratford,  Connecticut,  —  Mr.  Birds- 
eye,  an  octogenary,  who  had  formerly  been  the  pastor.  I  was  there, 
on  an  exchange  with  his  successor,  while  supplying  a  pulpit  at  New 
Haven.  My  text  in  the  afternoon  was,  "The  sacrifice  of  the 
wicked  is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord " ;  the  meaning  of  which 
was  explained  to  be,  that  "  the  prayers  of  the  impenitent,  their 
best  services,  could  not  have  in  them  the  elements  of  genuine  pie- 
ty." In  going  out  of  meeting,  Mr.  Birdseye  met  me  on  the  step- 
stone,  saying,  "  Sir,  you  bring  us  false  doctrine ;  you  have  been 
telling  us  that  the  unregenerate  ought  not  to  pray,  —  one  of  the  abom- 
inable doctrines  of  Hopkinsianism."  We  soon  had  an  audience 
around  us,  and  a  conference  meeting,  the  result  of  which  I  cannot 
tell  you,  excepting  I  was  soon  on  my  way  home,  without  settling 
the  question,  and  have  not  been  there  since. 

Hopkinsianism,  thus  caricatured  in  several  of  its  leading  dogmas? 


62  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  undisguised  Calvinism  ;  and  is  highly 
to  be  respected  for  its  frank,  fair,  and  bold  developments,  and  Chris- 
tiancandor. 

One  reason  for  supposing  my  feelings  have  never  been  in  har- 
mony with  sectarianism  is,  that,  when  a  candidate  for  settlement  in 
Litchfield,  occasionally  coming  in  contact  with  some  of  my  brethren 
there,  I  thought  myself  considered,  somehow,  a  "  speckled  bird." 
Mr.  Griffin  was  then  at  New  Hartford,  with  whom  I  had  been 
somewhat  intimately  acquainted ;  from  whom  I  received  a  letter, 
requesting  me  to  define  my  position  with  respect  to  some  point  of 
doctrine  ;  what  it  was,  I  do  not  now  recollect ;  which  introduced  a 
correspondence  that  at  length  was  closed  amicably. 

Riding  in  company,  once,  with  Rev.  Mr.  Day,  of  New  Preston, 
on  horseback,  I  rather  inconsiderately  asked  him  if  there  was  any 
distinction  in  the  Bible  between  grace  and  special  grace.  At  first  he 
made  me  no  reply.  Being  a  little  ahead  of  me  on  the  road,  he  after 
a  while  stopped  his  horse,  turned  about,  and,  looking  me  directly  in 
the  face,  with  a  most  appalling  sternness  of  countenance,  answered 
me  in  a  tone  of  voice  not  to  be  misunderstood  nor  forgotten,  — 
"  Special  grace  is  the  grace  that  makes  the  difference  between  the 
saint  and  the  sinner."  Very  good.  It  closed  the  conference.  We 
were  conversing  on  the  subject  of  unconditional  Election. 

As  the  time  drew  on  for  ordination,  I  had  asked  Doctor  Dwight 
to  preach  on  the  occasion.  He  had  his  reasons  for  declining,  at  the 
same  time  recommending  Doctor  Dana,  of  New  Haven,  who,  while 
I  lived  there,  had  always  honored  me  with  his  friendship.  He  was 
first  settled  in  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  where  he  had  as  fellow- 
laborer  in  that  vineyard,  in  another  society,  Mr.  Waterman,  now 
belonging  to  the  Consociation  in  Litchfield  County,  by  whom  I  was 
expecting  to  be  ordained. 

These  two  gentlemen,  long  before  I  was  born,  not  in  entire  con- 
cinnity,  had  had  their  eye  upon  an  "  ignis  fatuus "  in  theology, 
which  appeared  in  a  correspondence,  at  the  time  attracting  much 
attention  in  New  England ;  but  the  matter  had  been  dead  and 
buried  long  since,  the  two  gentlemen,  in  the  mean  while,  quietly 
pursuing  the  business  of  their  calling,  in  their  respective  spheres  of 
action. 

But  this  invitation  to  preach  the  ordination  sermon, — what,  under 
the  circumstances,  could  be  done  with  it  ?  It  was  proposed  by 
President  Dwight,  accepted  by  Doctor  Dana,  and  the  tune  appoint- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  63 

ed  for  ordination  was  at  hand.  I  was  at  Litchfield  at  the  time. 
General  Tracy,  a  parishioner  who  had  been  on  a  tour  to  visit  offi- 
cially his  brigade  in  the  north  part  of  the  county,  had  just  returned ; 
and  had  held,  in  his  absence,  an  interview  with  the  aged  and  rev- 
erend Mr.  Farrand,  of  New  Canaan,  Connecticut,  who  said  to  him, 
"  And  so  you  are  not  likely  to  have  an  ordination  at  Litchfield  ?  " 
"  Why  not  ? "  said  the  General.  "  Does  your  candidate  know," 
said  Mr.  Farrand,  "  what  he  is  about  ? "  telling  him  at  the  same 
time  of  the  old  grudge.  "  Now  what  will  you  do  ? "  "  O,"  said 
the  General,  "  if  it  is  like  to  make  a  difficulty,  Doctor  Dana  will 
not  come,  at  any  rate.  We  can  coax  him,  I  guess,  to  do  what  is 
right."  Mr.  Farrand,  always  having  a  saw  at  hand  suited  to  the 
occasion,  said :  "  A  tin  pedlar,  in  the  spring,  when  the  roads  were 
bad,  was  unable  to  make  headway,  and  right  before  my  door  fell  to 
belaboring  his  poor  horse,  spring  poor,  unmercifully.  I  stepped  out 
and  begged  the  man  to  desist.  '  Why,  what  shall  I  do  ?  The  crit- 
ter won't  draw.'  '  O,'  said  I, '  coax  him.'  '  Coax  him  ?  Coax  the 
Devil!'" 

Poor  Doctor  Dana,  probably  never  hearing  Mr.  Farrand's  argu- 
ment, came  on  to  the  ordination ;  preached  a  good  sound  Orthodox 
sermon ;  the  Consociation  were  generally  together ;  and  I  believe 
all  were  well  satisfied.  The  anecdote  shows  us  the  peculiarities  of 
the  age,  and  the  region  round  about. 

I  am  pleading,  it  will  be  remembered,  for  my  own  Catholicism, 
in  harmony  with  Orthodoxy.  I  have  evidence  of  it  after  removing 
to  Middletown.  I  did  not  interfere,  there,  with  the  former  custom 
of  baptizing  the  children  of  those  who  owned  "  the  covenant,"  as 
it  was  called,  but  did  not  see  their  way  clear  to  the  Lord's  table. 
I  ought  here  to  say,  they  had  no  creed,  aside  from  the  covenant. 

The  two  gentlemen  at  Middletown  who  officiated  in  the  deacon's 
office  were  supposed  to  be  Unitarians,  and  if  anybody  ever  under- 
took to  find  evidence  to  the  contrary,  I  did  not.  There  were  ex- 
pressions in  their  covenant,  for  the  admission  of  church-members, 
which  were  objectionable,  in  view  of  some  of  the  best  characters 
among  us,  which  I  took  pains  either  to  have  altered  or  removed,  so 
that  no  objection  of  the  kind  might  remain.  A  stumbling-block  to 
making  a  profession  of  religion  was  thus  removed. 

We  were  on  the  great  road  of  travel,  and  it  often  so  happened 
that  travellers,  clergymen  among  others,  were  detained  on  the  Sab- 
bath. 


64  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

In  several  instances,  the  ministers  of  Unitarian  churches  were 
among  the  number.  I  invited  ministers  of  all  denominations,  regu- 
larly ordained,  to  take  part  in  the  religious  services,  and  in  doing  it 
I  found  it  gave  good  satisfaction  to  the  congregation.  On  one  oc- 
casion, Doctor  Porter,  of  Roxbury,  Mass.,  preached  for  me,  and  at 
the  communion  administered  either  the  bread  or  the  wine  at  the 
Lord's  table. 

My  brethren  in  the  ministry  reproved  me  severely  for  violating 
the  rules  of  Christian  fellowship,  by  inviting  a  Unitarian  ;  but  I 
could  not  be  convinced  I  was  wrong. 

About  this  time,  on  my  way  to  Boston,  I  called  on  Doctor  Em- 
mons  of  Franklin,  and  stated  the  case,  asking  him  what  he  would 
do,  under  similar  circumstances.  "  Do  ?  I  would  invite  them  to 
preach,  by  all  means."  "  Would  you  invite  them  to  administer  or- 
dinances ?  "  "  Be  sure  I  would."  "  And  if  Unitarians  should  preach 
their  doctrines  to  your  people,  what  would  you  do ? "  "I  would 
choose  to  have  them ;  and  the  next  Sabbath  I  would  show  my  peo- 
ple, if  wrong,  how  easily  they  might  be  set  right ! " 

Let  us  be  thankful,  my  dear  children,  that  we  may  all  think  and 
hope  for  ourselves ;  that  we  may  harmlessly  extend  our  hopes  into 
futurity  ;  and  that,  among  the  innumerable  worlds  that  roll  in  illim- 
itable space,  there  may  be  one  world  found  for  us,  whose  inhabitants 
love  one  another,  with  pure  hearts,  fervently,  and  where  Faith, 
Hope,  and  Charity  may  have  free  course  for  ever. 


II. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  INTOLERANCE. 


DESIGNED  FOR  THE  USE  OP  FAMILY  FRIENDS,  FRIENDS  IN  HADLET,  AND 
FRIENDS  OF  EVANGELICAL  DISCIPLINE  AND  ORDER  IN  THE  CHURCH 
UNIVERSAL. 

I  GAVE  an  intimation,  in  the  First  Sermon,  that  my  life,  though  it 
has  been  a  happy  one,  has  had  its  trials.  Among  these  has  been  a 
case  of  church  discipline,  the  subject  of  the  following  Note.  I 
have  before  me  a  narrative  of  the  whole  case  in  detail,  of  which 
these  are  some  of  the  outlines,  as  they  are  given  in  a  Journal 
of  the  "  Sister  "  herself. 

In  November,  1821,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  visit  each 
member  of  the  Church  in  Hadley,  to  inquire  into  their  views  and 
feelings  with  regard  to  religion. 

One  of  the  committee  called  on  the  sister,  and  during  that  visit 
wished  to  know  of  her  if  she  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity.  Learning  that  she  did  not,  at  the  close  of  the  visit  he 
observed  that  it  had  been  customary,  on  such  occasions,  to  unite  in 
prayer  ;  but  as  there  could  be  no  communion  where  there  was  such 
a  difference  in  opinion,  he  thought  it  best  to  omit  it  in  this  case, 
and  accordingly  withdrew. 

The  result  soon  reached  the  ears  of  the  pastor,  from  whom  she 
was  made  by  epistle  to  understand  that  the  committee-man  had 
done  his  duty,  and  that  the  Church  could  not  extend  their  fellow- 
ship to  Unitarians. 

The  sister,  finding  thus,  officially,  that  her  presence  at  the  usual 
place  of  worship,  and  especially  at  the  Lord's  table,  could  no 
longer  be  desirable,  and  finding  forthwith  that  the  services,  when 
she  did  attend,  became  unpleasant,  concluded  to  provide  herself 
with  a  place  of  worship  elsewhere. 

Accordingly,  a  dismissal  from  the   Church  was  soon  after  re- 


66  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

quested  in  a  written  form ;  which  was  not  granted.  Information 
was  given  her,  that  the  connection,  if  she  wished  it,  could  be  dis- 
solved ;  but  that  it  must  be  by  "  excommunication." 

From  this  time,  for  about  eight  or  ten  years,  we  hear  nothing 
more  of  the  subject.  "  The  wounded  deer  had  left  the  herd,"  but 
was  not  forgotten.  The  ardor  of  the  archer's  zeal  had  probably 
outrun  his  skill  in  the  knowledge  of  spirits  and  of  Gospel  disci- 
pline. 

Several  of  the  most  respectable  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church 
were  not  prepared  for  an  indorsement,  and  went  so  far  as  to  advise 
the  halting  sister  to  take  no  notice  of  the  hasty  determination  of 
the  committee-man,  but  continue  to  attend  the  religious  services 
where  she  belonged. 

A  letter  from  the  pastor  soon  closed  every  mouth,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  implicit  submission.  The  sister  under  discipline  had 
yet  to  learn  that  the  Church  of  God  was  a  snare  and  a  trap,  into 
which  she  had  fallen,  and  from  which  she  might  disenthral  herself 
as  she  could.  Under  the  former  ministry  of  such  men  as  Russel, 
Chauncey,  Williams,  and  Hopkins,  excommunication  for  exercising 
the  right  of  private  judgment  was  unknown. 

A  good  many  conservatives  of  this  old  way  arc  here  and  there 
to  be  found  in  the  Church,  not  easily  roused  to  action.  Nothing 
will  sooner  attract  their  attention  than  epithets,  hard  names,  and 
brave  speeches,  pronounced  in  their  presence,  and  put  into  their 
mouths,  as  applicable  to  those  who  are  to  be  shunned  as  heterodox, 
such  as  Socinians,  Apostates,  Sabellians,  Infidels,  and  the  like. 
These,  and  many  others,  were  thoroughly  tried,  at  private  lectures, 
conferences,  and  funerals ;  with  what  success  it  is  impossible  to 
determine ;  yet  having  so  much  of  the  tragi-comical  character 
attached  to  them,  it  is  difficult  to  conclude  which  we  ought  most 
earnestly  to  endeavor  to  suppress,  our  indignation  or  compassion. 
From  one  reason  and  another,  some  were  brought  to  take  different 
ground  in  the  movement  from  that  on  which  they  formerly  stood. 
In  skilful  hands  it  would  be  strange  if  some  of  the  projects  should 
not  succeed,  and  "  the  consummation  so  devoutly  wished "  be  ac- 
complished. 

The  delinquent  and  her  family  show  themselves,  meanwhile, 
good  members  of  society,  and  good  Christians,  in  the  different 
stations  they  are  called  to  fill  in  life.  They  have  changed  their 
place  of  worship,  and,  considering  the  sacrifices  they  must  make  in 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  67 

getting  to  it,  they  are  enjoying  it  under  the  ministrations  of  some 
of  the  best  of  men,  though  in  the  way  that  others  call  heresy. 

That  a  correct  moral  deportment  is  no  part  of  the  credible  pro- 
fession of  Christianity  is  with  many  an  insult  to  common  sense. 
Dictation  is  unavailable ;  and  to  his  own  Master  each  must  stand 
or  fall. 

Years  elapsed.  Two  deacons  at  length  were  sent  to  take  the 
first  and  second  steps  in  reference  to  excommunication.  Their 
report  was  made  at  a  meeting  of  the  Church,  August  26th,  1828, 
and  a  vote  of  withdrawment  was  adopted,  to  be  made  public  on  the 
following  Lord's  day,  September  7th,  1828. 

At  the  close  of  the  minutes,  it  is  added: 

"  We  therefore  declare  her  connection  with  us,  as  a  sister  in  the 
Church,  to  be  at  an  end ;  and  withdraw  from  her  our  watch  and 
fellowship,  till  such  time  as  she,  renouncing  her  errors,  shall  return 
to  us  by  repentance. 

"Attest:  JOHN  WOODBRIDGE,  Pastor." 

The  sister,  hitherto  universally  beloved  as  a  Christian,  is  here 
left  an  impenitent  sinner. 

It  will  here  be  proper  to  say,  then,  that  the  sister  thus  dealt  with 
was  "  Elizabeth  W.,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Dan  Huntington." 

In  a  spirit  of  serious  and  deliberate  inquiry,  it  is  to  be  asked 
whether  our  churches,  in  the  exercise  of  the  authority  assumed, 
are  not  in  the  habit  of  departing  widely  from  the  simplicity  of  the 
Gospel,  in  excommunication,  the  ultimate  act  of  discipline.  Can 
an  exemplary  Christian,  once  admitted  to  the  Church,  be  excom- 
municated from  it,  —  cut  off,  —  cast  out, — no  longer  to  be  thought 
of  within  the  precincts  of  faith,  hope,  or  charity  ?  With  the  Bible 
before  us,  this  is  a  serious  question. 

Let  nothing  which  has  been  said,  or  which  may  be  said,  on  this 
subject,  be  construed  to  the  disparagement  of  discipline,  in  all  its 
legal  latitude.  Discipline  is  essential  to  the  order  of  the  Church. 
It  is  essential  to  the  very  existence  of  all  regularly  organized 
bodies.  The  family,  the  school,  civil  society,  cannot  prosper  with- 
out it.  To  err  is  human.  Order  is  Heaven's  first  law.  To  correct 
error,  and  restore  the  wandering  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  and  love, 
is  beautiful.  It  may  be  mistaken  in  its  object,  and  carried  too  far. 

"  What  shall  be  done  with  the  offending  brother  ?  "  said  the  good 
old  Deacon,  in  Vermont,  to  his  neighbor.  "Why,"  said  the 
neighbor,  "  the  rule  is  to  forgive,  till  seventy  times  seven." 
"  True,"  said  the  Deacon,  "  but  we  have  used  all  that  up." 


68  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

Probably  the  Deacon  was  mistaken.  There  is  hope  for  the 
backslider,  while  the  day  of  our  probation  is  continued.  It  is 
painful  to  resort  to  the  rod ;  but  if  it  is  used,  let  it  be  sanative, 
rather  than  vindictive  ;  reformatory,  rather  than  punitive.  But 
once  properly  used,  let  it  be  gone  through  with.  Firmness  and 
consistency  in  a  good  cause  are  always  commendable.  Guilt  and 
punishment  must  go  together.  But  if  afterward  it  should  appear 
that  the  supposed  delinquent  had  suffered  wrongfully,  let  those  that 
did  the  wrong  cheerfully  acknowledge  it ;  and  with  a  disposition  in 
the  purport  of  which  they  themselves  may  hope  for  forgiveness,  in 
the  great  day  of  account.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  parental, 
fraternal,  evangelical  discipline  is  one  thing ;  —  usurpation,  injustice, 
spiritual  pride,  sectarian  bitterness,  under  the  dictation  of  tyranny 
and  envy,  the  injection  of  the  Devil,  is  another. 

Thus  far,  my  dear  children,  we  find  the  venerable  object  of  our 
affections,  in  the  midst  of  her  trials,  on  high  ground.  Her  char- 
acter, where  she  was  known  from  childhood,  was  without  a  blot. 
She  joined  the  Church  in  her  youth,  on  the  ground  of  a  credible 
profession  and  self-dedication  ;  and  through  evil  report  and  good 
report  maintained  that  profession  till  her  dying  day. 

By  self-dedication  and  a  credible  profession,  she  became  one  with 
God  in  Christ,  as  the  Vine  and  Branch  are  one.  In  all  humility, 
she  numbered  herself  with  the  elect  of  God,  called,  and  chosen, 
and  faithful,  an  "  heir  of  God,  and  joint  heir  with  Christ  Jesus,  to 
the  heavenly  inheritance."  Wherever  she  has  been  known,  she 
has  been  regarded  as  a  true-hearted  Christian  ;  a  person  of  uniform, 
visible,  eminent,  and  consistent  piety. 

Of  course  she  maintained  her  standing  in  the  Church  militant, 
as  well  after  she  was  recorded  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  Hadley,  as  before,  and  as  such  was  entitled  to  communion  at  the 
Lord's  table,  and  was  never  elsewhere  denied  the  privilege.  This 
I  find  in  accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  an  Orthodox  minister 
of  high  standing,  in  a  sermon  of  his,  lately  printed,  addressed  to 
his  Church  in  Farmington,  Ct.,  where  he  says :  "  To  have  com- 
munion at  the  table  of  the  Lord  is  the  privilege  of  all  who  have 
'communion  in  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,'  i.  e.  of  all 
Christians.  To  exclude  an  acknowledged  Christian  from  this  ordi- 
nance is  to  belie,  in  act,  your  own  acknowledgment  in  words.  It 
is  virtually  to  exclude  him  or  her  from  the  household  of  faith ;  to 
say,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  possible,  that  you  do  not  regard 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  69 

him  or  her  as  having  with  you  '  communion  in  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord ' ;  and  it  tends  to  a  corresponding  separation  of  feeling 
and  action.  This  is  destructive  of  all  union,  harmony,  and  love 
among  brethren."  "  It  is  the  command  of  Christ  to  every  disciple 
of  his,  '  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me.' "  "  If  Christ  himself  bids 
you  come,  who  has  a  right  to  debar  you  ?  If  you  are  debarred  by 
any  Church  of  Christ,  you  are  denied  your  rights,  and  grossly 
insulted."  Thus  far  Dr.  Porter  speaks,  and  speaks  the  truth. 

We  have  before  us  a  member  of  the  Church  that  no  brother  or 
sister  could  ever  expect  to  see  excommunicated,  any  more  than 
they  could  expect  to  see  the  body  of  their  Redeemer  dismembered ; 
who  of  course  never  was  excommunicated  by  any  Bible  rule,  and 
never  could  be ;  and  therefore  we  see  that  the  record  made  hi  the 
Church  at  Hadley,  of  their  withdrawment  of  their  watch  from  her, 
August  26th,  1828,  was  a  failure  and  a  falsity.  The  excommuni- 
cation is  announced,  but  not  done  with.  The  minutes  must  have  a 
more  thorough  review. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  session,  we  took  care  to  let  our 
self-constituted  judges  know  how  little  respect  we  had  for  their 
adjudications,  and  that  we  had  not  come  there  because  we  were 
"  cited "  at  a  certain  tune,  but,  knowing  them  to  be  together,  we 
wished  to  see  them  on  our  own  concerns,  upon  the  business  there 
referred  to.  It  was  not  business  we  did  not  expect,  or  which  we 
very  much  dreaded. 

"We  were  informed  we  were  there  on  a  complaint,  regularly  pre- 
sented by  two  of  their  deacons,  from  which  it  was  set  forth  that 
the  halting  sister  had  been  twice  admonished  ;  I  was  glad  they  did 
not  say  faithfully  and  tenderly  admonished.  I  happened  to  be 
present,  if  not  at  both  times,  once  certainly,  and  both  saw  and 
heard  all  that  was  done.  I  heard  no  admonitions ;  no  proposal  for 
prayer ;  no  charges  ;  no  ratiocinations ;  but  while  in  flippant  con- 
versation, upon  indifferent  subjects,  they  both  appeared  more  en- 
gaged in  discussing  a  dish  of  choice  fruit,  on  the  sideboard,  than 
the  business  on  which  I  supposed  they  were  sent.  If  it  were  not 
too  serious  a  subject,  I  should  say  it  was  all  downright  insincerity, 
untruthfulness,  and  trifling ;  that  either  it  was  all  meant  for  a  sham, 
or  they  did  not  reveal  what  was  in  their  hearts,  or  they  did  not 
know  their  mission. 

The  subject  is  indeed  a  serious  one ;  but  after  all  there  is  a  good 
deal  in  it  that  is  farcical.  The  system  of  espionage  in  churches, 


70  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

managed  by  standing  committees,  not  always  men  of  superior  dis- 
cernment, to  look  up  the  delinquencies  of  others,  rather  than  to 
examine  their  own  hearts  and  lives,  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun. 
A  limb  of  the  beast,  it  has  been  found  a  very  convenient  engine  of 
prelacy  in  all  ages.  It  was  here,  as  we  have  seen,  the  beginning 
of  an  outrageous  assault.  In  a  free  intercourse  with  our  friends, 
in  private  circles,  the  subject  was  talked  over,  ever  and  anon  ;  and 
I  never  could  find  that  there  were  a  half-dozen  men,  nor  half  that 
number  of  women,  in  the  Church,  that  ever  expressed  a  wish  for 
excommunication.  On  the  contrary,  finding  that  it  was  to  be  tried 
for,  astonishment  and  sorrow  of  heart  in  secret  were  apparently 
the  prevailing  emotions. 

At  the  last  meeting  we  attended,  the  number  present  was  very 
small,  and  the  countenances  of  those  we  met  at  the  door,  when  we 
entered,  left  no  doubt  as  to  their  wishes  ;  though  how  to  express 
them  seemed  to  be  difficult.  In  regard  to  the  votes,  on  the  minutes, 
and  the  charges  there  brought  forward,  it  will  be  observed,  that 
they  are  all  pronounced  "  unanimous "  !  Considering  the  small 
number  present,  there  was  no  need  of  any  mistake  on  the  subject. 
But  why  not  pursue  the  course  taken  in  other  public  bodies,  by 
calling  for  "  contrary  minds "  ?  This,  I  have  been  told,  was  not 
done ;  and  that  the  brother  who,  respectfully  rising,  said  he  doubted 
the  vote,  was  grossly  insulted  by  being  sternly  replied  to,  "  It  is  a 
vote ;  please,  sir,  to  take  your  seat."  Upon  the  ground  of  some  of  the 
old  platforms,  I  believe  the  moderator  might  consider  himself  one 
half  of  the  Church ;  so  that  if  the  moderator  should  observe  one  hand 
raised,  though  it  was  the  hand  of  Judas  Iscariot,  he  need  look  no 
further  for  a  majority,  putting  up  his  own !  I  do  not  know  that 
this  was  the  principle  upon  which  those  votes  were  now  pronounced 
"  unanimous."  From  all  I  can  gather,  in  conversation  with  those 
present,  I  do  not  believe  there  has  ever  been  anything  like  u  una- 
nimity "  on  the  subject,  in  the  Church  or  out  of  it,  in  the  town  or 
in  the  community  at  large.  And  yet  there  it  stands,  with  an  un- 
blushing front,  four  or  five  tunes  repeated,  on  the  minutes  of  the 
Church,  "unanimously." 

"Where  is  the  justice  of  a  forced  "  unanimity  "  ?  I  am  aware, 
that,  when  harshness  and  hastiness  have  been  ascribed  to  the  mod- 
erator, he  has  taken  refuge  in  the  milder  term  used  in  the  minutes, 
of  the  "  withdrawment "  of  the  sister  from  the  Church,  and  of  their 
"  withdrawing  "  their  fellowship  from  her. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  71 

In  this  case  there  was  no  such  distinction.  Whatever  name  they 
have  given  it,  the  act  and  the  instrument  are  just  what  they  were 
intended  to  be  from  the  beginning,  and  nothing  more  nor  less, 
and  what  the  sister  was  then  told  it  must  come  to.  It  was  placing 
her,  as  an  impenitent  sinner,  where  in  the  estimation  of  her  prose- 
cutors she  deserved  to  be,  a  culprit,  and  whence  she  never  could 
return,  but  by  placing  herself  before  her  confessors  in  the  attitude 
of  a  repenting  suppliant.  It  was  excommunication  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  term.  If  they  gave  it  a  milder  name,  it  was 
because  they  probably  thought  it  was  as  far  as  they  could  go  safely ; 
excommunication,  as  a  man  of  humor  expressed  it,  upon  "  the  low- 
pressure  principle."  A  crisis  this,  unexpected  and  appalling. 
Sustained,  however,  as  she  was,  by  the  light  of  God's  countenance, 
and  conscious  integrity,  it  was  met  without  a  murmur  or  a  sigh. 
The  wreck  of  former  friendships  and  associations  is  painful,  but  not 
always  without  solace.  Call  this  separation  what  you  will,  be  the 
intention  and  result  of  the  conduct  of  her  persecutors  as  they  may, 
she  did  not  think  of  any  withdrawment,  till  told  her  presence  and 
further  communion  with  her  were  not  desired. 

They  thus  compelled  her  to  withdraw ;  and  then  made  that  with- 
drawment a  crime,  for  which  nothing  she  could  do  would  atone  ;  and 
thus  it  became  one  of  the  two  charges  brought  against  her. 

The  other  charge  on  the  minutes  is  the  denial  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  and  the  Supreme  Deity  of  our  adorable  Saviour. 

"What  I  have  just  been  saying,  is  to  help  you,  my  dear  children, 
to  understand  more  fully,  as  we  have  it  from  the  Bible,  the  theology 
of  excommunications.  To  impress  this  upon  your  minds  is  my 
design  in  what  follows.  A  perfectly  fair  Christian  character  is 
here  brought  before  a  self-instituted  tribunal.  The  punishment  to 
be  inflicted,  capital.  The  judges,  who  are  also  witnesses  and  exe- 
cutioners, must  be  trained  with  adroitness.  Public  opinion  must 
be  brought  up  to  the  work.  A  failure,  in  such  a  case,  would  be 
fatal.  An  offensive  war  and  an  eight  year's  siege  were  the  re- 
sult. Communion  seasons,  preparatory  lectures,  funeral  occasions, 
and  conference  meetings  were  found  peculiarly  favorable  to  the 
drill ;  where,  with  the  flourish  of  trumpets  and  missiles,  together 
with  the  free  use  of  "  damnation,"  as  an  embellishment  of  speech, 
the  commander-in-chief  is  in  his  element.  In  such  a  state  of  so- 
ciety, where  is  the  security,  for  a  moment,  for  justice,  honor,  and 
good  brotherhood?  A  good  character  grossly  scandalized  !  A 


72  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

professed  and  exemplary  Christian  insulted  and  banished  from  her 
mother  Church,  under  the  guise  of  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  by  men  with  the  inscription  upon  their  phylacteries,  "  I  am 
holier  than  thou!" 

What  a  specimen  this  of  church  government,  irresponsible,  abso- 
lute, tyrannical,  infallible !  —  having  it  well  understood,  in  terrorem, 
that  whatsoever  by  them  is  bound  on  earth  is  bound  in  heaven ! 
What,  then,  can  be  here  more  appropriate  than  to  introduce  the 
character  of  the  one  thus  assailed,  who  is  now  no  more  with  us  in 
the  body? 

It  is  in  the  words  and  from  the  heart  of  one  who  knew  her  well. 
Out  of  the  abundance  of  he  heart,  the  mouth  speaketh. 


A  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE   OF  MRS.  ELIZABETH  WHITING 
HUNTINGTON. 

Reared  among  the  refined  and  genial  influences  of  a  rural  New- 
England  home,  her  character  early  exhibited  the  graces  and  virtues 
of  such  a  training.  It  is  the  testimony  of  those  who  knew  her 
best,  that  her  maidenly  life  was  marked  by  a  goodness  that  cor- 
responded with  the  beauty  of  her  person,  —  by  a  conscientious 
attention  to  her  appropriate  duties,  by  filial  obedience  and  venera- 
tion, joined  with  great  amiability  in  society,  and  by  an  animation 
that  never  transgressed  the  line  of  feminine  delicacy. 

A  few  years  before  her  marriage,  while  as  yet  she  was  a  young 
woman,  her  religious  experience  became  clear  and  decided,  and  on 
the  day  of  an  annual  public  Fast,  on  a  written  paper,  a  copy  of 
which  still  remains  in  the  family,  she  made  a  solemn  and  touching 
dedication  of  herself  to  God,  through  Christ ;  at  the  same  tune 
connecting  herself  with  a  body  of  communicants  in  the  church  at 
Hadley. 

This  sacred  covenant  it  was  her  practice  to  renew,  in  form,  with 
the  most  thorough  examination  and  fervent  prayer,  at  the  recurrence 
of  each  anniversary  of  her  first  vow,  until  the  day  of  her  death. 

By  a  very  striking  coincidence,  her  death  took  place  on  one  of 
those  anniversaries ;  her  spirit  left  her  body,  at  sunset,  on  the 
evening  of  April  6th,  1847.  Thus  the  terms  of  an  earthly  conse- 
cration were  exchanged  for  the  glorious  society  of  Heaven  ;  on  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  73 

same  day  that  admitted  her  to  the  Body  of  Christ  below,  she  en- 
tered the  Church  of  the  First-Born,  and  had  open  vision  for  the 
written  word. 

From  the  date  of  her  spiritual  renewal,  it  was  her  custom  to 
keep  a  journal,  where  she  recorded  from  time  to  time  some  of  her 
deepest  emotions  and  holy  resolutions.  These  writings,  happily 
preserved  in  her  family,  are  fragrant  with  a  pure,  simple,  and 
unaffected  piety.  They  reveal  no  less  than  her  daily  life  a  constant 
feeling  of  dependence  on  the  guidance  of  her  Heavenly  Father  ;  a 
strong  and  ardent  personal  affection  for  her  Saviour ;  much  humility 
and  self-distrust,  with  an  unfailing  earnestness  in  all  the  practical 
labors  of  the  Christian  disciple. 

She  was  in  the  habit  of  observing  all  special  occasions  in  her 
family,  like  the  birthdays  of  children,  their  departure  from  home, 
their  entrance  on  any  new  scene  or  employment,  as  well  as  public 
religious  appointments,  by  peculiar  devotional  exercises.  Not 
infrequently  these  were  accompanied  by  fasting. 

(I  am  happy  here  to  add,  what  no  one  else  would  so  well  know, 
that  in  answering  to  professional  calls,  as  an  Evangelist,  and,  as  the 
case  might  be,  from  home  several  days  at  a  time,  I  could  be  absent 
without  the  least  anxiety,  leaving,  as  sole  head,  one  so  competent 
to  fill  her  station.  The  heart  of  her  husband  safely  trusted  in  her. 
She  was  the  best-beloved  of  her  children,  the  confidante  of  her 
domestics,  the  friend  of  all.  As  the  sentinel,  financier,  and  steward, 
with  their  respective  responsibilities,  —  at  the  head  of  a  numerous 
family,  of  almost  every  age,  in  minority,  —  she  was  always  pre- 
cisely in  her  place,  doing  good  to  all,  as  she  had  opportunity. 
Religious  order  never  was  suspended  or  interrupted  for  the  want  of 
one  who  was  able  and  willing  to  take  the  lead.  Thus  fulfilling  the 
duties  of  her  several  relations,  it  could  not  be  otherwise  than  that 
she  should  be  highly  respected  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her. 
Favor  is  deceitful  and  beauty  is  vain,  but  the  woman  that  feareth 
the  Lord,  —  let  her  works  speak  for  her.  But  we  will  follow  on, 
in  the  words  of  our  biographer.) 

If  there  was  any  trait  that  distinguished  her  life  above  all  others, 
it  was  her  frequency  at  the  throne  of  grace.  Her  faith  in  the  efficacy 
of  prayer  knew  no  bounds.  Every  day  large  portions  of  her  time 
were  set  apart  for  silent  communion  with  God,  and  nothing  was 
allowed  to  intrude  into  the  privacy  and  sanctity  of  those  hours. 
Rejecting  with  emphasis  the  poor  notion,  that  the  only  benefit  of 

10 


74  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

our  supplication  at  the  throng  of  grace  is  its  reflex  action  on  the 
soul,  she  held  the  cheerful  faith,  that  whatever  we  may  rightly 
desire  ought  to  be  made  the  subject  of  prayer ;  and  that  if  we 
ask  believing,  we  do  actually  receive  from  a  hearing  and  answering 
God.  In  every  respect  her  religion  was  of  the  Scriptural  type. 
The  foundation  of  her  hopes  was  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."  She 
leaned  on  the  Divine  promises.  "Whatever  she  heard  or  read 
that  had  a  tendency  to  detract  from  the  sanctity  of  Christian  insti- 
tutions, the  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  or  doctrines  truly 
evangelical,  or  a  high  standard  of  morals  or  manners,  distressed  her 
exceedingly. 

The  ecclesiastical  cruelty  that  pursued  her  year  after  year, 
through  aggravated  evasions  and  falsehoods,  and  that  ended  at 
last  in  her  excommunication,  she  bore  with  saintly  forbearance. 
Throughout,  her  Christian  character  remained  unsullied,  without  a 
reproach  or  a  shadow.  It  seemed  even  to  gain  strength  and  beauty 
by  the  bitter  trial.  Subsequently  she  was  in  communion  with  the 
Unitarian  Church  at  Northampton,  till  her  death. 

The  bereavements  in  the  circle  of  her  children  began  with  the 
death  of  her  youngest  daughter,  Catherine,  August  15th,  1830,  at 
the  age  of  thirteen.  This,  and  the  similar  sorrows  that  followed  it, 
in  the  departure  of  Whiting,  Mary,  and  Edward,  were  afflictions 
that  laid  a  heavy  burden  on  her  tender  motherly  affections.  In 
connection  with  severe  physical  illness  and  prostration,  they  some- 
times brought  her  spirit  to  a  temporary  depression,  apparently  bor- 
dering on  derangement.  But  no  grief  ever  obscured  her  trust  in 
the  Lord.  She  knew  that,  through  suffering,  the  soul  is  made 
perfect.  The  disciple  was  willing  to  partake  of  the  Master's  cup. 
She  knew  in  whom  she  had  believed.  The  clouds  were  dispersed. 
No  portion  of  her  life  was  more  serene  and  tranquil,  more  filled 
with  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding,  and  the  joy  of  be- 
lieving, than  her  later  years.  She  often  dwelt  with  lively  satisfac- 
tion and  joyful  gratitude  on  the  precious  fact  that,  in  her  lifetime, 
all  the  beloved  children  for  whom  she  had  watched  and  prayed, 
and  whom  she  had  consecrated  in  baptism,  gave  reasonable  evidence 
of  a  distinct  and  personal  adoption  of  the  Christian  faith. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  and  impressive  traits  of  her  strongly- 
marked  nature  was  her  philanthropy.  Hardly  one  of  the  great 
causes  of  moral  reform  failed  to  enlist  her  cordial  interest.  Indeed, 
she  commonly  espoused  their  principles,  and  sought  every  possible 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  75 

means  of  studying  and  impressing  them.  Her  high  intellectual 
power,  her  moral  enthusiasm,  and  her  steady  perseverance,  uni- 
formly enabled  her  to  bring  over  to  the  side  of  her  convictions  those 
about  her.  Thus  she  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  her  neighborhood 
in  the  cause  of  peace,  of  antislavery,  and  temperance.  Nor  was 
her  concern  confined  to  distant  and  general  evils.  There  was  a 
beautiful  consistency  in  her  character.  She  was  continually  seek- 
ing out  the  poor,  the  ignorant,  the  vicious  and  unhappy  in  her  dis- 
trict, and  devising  modest  and  efficient  plans  for  their  good.  And 
these  plans  she  carried  out  with  surprising  energy.  The  latest 
designs  she  formed  were  for  the  moral  and  religious  instruction  of 
some  destitute  and  colored  children  ;  and  the  last  toil  of  her  enfee- 
bled hands  was  spent  in  preparing  some  article  of  comfort  for  an 
orphan. 

Her  final  illness  was  painful,  and  continued  more  than  a  year. 
Her  confidence  in  the  Father's  love  was  perfectly  undisturbed. 
Her  accustomed  piety  was  too  deep  and  too  sincere  to  glimmer  into 
any  unnatural  transports.  She  anticipated  minutely  the  circum- 
stances of  her  finally  falling  asleep,  with  entire  composure.  When 
asked  for  some  specific  expression  of  her  expectation  of  heaven, 
she  answered,  with  characteristic  modesty,  "  It  would  be  unbecom- 
ing an  unworthy  disciple,  like  me,  to  be  quoted  hereafter.  My  hope 
of  heaven  is  clear,  and  I  thank  God  that  the  glories  of  that  state 
are  not  more  fully  revealed ;  for  then,  I  fear,  I  should  be  only  too 
impatient  to  be  there." 

Her  strongest  desire  to  be  released  from  the  agony  of  her  disor- 
der was  uttered,  after  a  weary  night,  in  the  words  of  the  patriarch, 
"  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh."  Reminded  of  the  loved  ones 
who  had  gone  before  her,  she  replied,  "  O  yes,  I  shall  look  them  all 
up."  Nothing  could  be  more  delightful  than  her  genial  and  affec- 
tionate intercourse  Avith  her  family.  Home  was  the  chief  scene  of 
her  joy  and  activity.  Her  children  will  always  remember  her  gen- 
tle thoughtfulness  in  their  behalf;  her  tender  consideration  for  their 
childish  or  maturer  anxieties ;  her  careful  provisions  for  their  com- 
fort, when  they  went  away ;  her  cordial  welcome,  when  they  came 
back;  her  wise  and  timely  counsels,  whether  by  letters  or  by 
speech  ;  —  above  all,  the  delicate  tact  and  success  with  which  she 
communicated  to  them  her  own  finer  feelings,  and  kindled  in  them 
nobler  aspirations. 

Her  mental  powers  and  accomplishments  were  of  a  high  order. 


76  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

She  had  a  rare  ability  in  stamping  her  ideas  on  other  minds. 
Through  all  her  busy  life,  crowded  with  the  cares  of  training  eleven 
children,  besides  many  voluntary  engagements,  she  maintained  a 
constant  daily  habit  of  reading  the  best  books.  She  sang  in  an  ex- 
cellent, musical  voice,  and  occasionally  accompanied  herself  on  the 
guitar.  One  of  the  great  privileges  of  her  children  was  to  gather 
about  her,  and  hear  her  sing  sacred  songs,  on  Sunday  evenings,  — 
chief  of  which  was  the  Bethlehem  hymn,  beginning, 

"  When,  marshalled  on  the  nightly  plain, 
The  glittering  host  bestud  the  sky,"  &c. 

She  had  also  an  ardent  and  intelligent  admiration  of  nature, 
cultivated  doubtless  by  the  peculiar  richness  and  beauty  of  the 
scenery  about  her  paternal  residence.  She  found  a  never-failing 
satisfaction  in  flowers  and  birds ;  in  all  the  natural  changes  of  the 
earth  and  sky,  through  this  lovely  valley  and  over  those  graceful 
hills. 

Looking  out  upon  the  verdure  of  June,  through  the  open  window 
of  the  room,  during  her  last  sickness,  she  repeated  the  familiar 
stanza: — 

"  If  God  hath  made  this  world  so  fair 

Where  sin  and  death  abound, 
How  beautiful  beyond  compare 
Will  Paradise  be  found  !  " 

But  vigorous  and  active  as  her  intellect  was,  her  chief  glory  was 
her  large  and  holy  heart.  She  loved  righteousness  and  truth  bet- 
ter than  any  creed  or  sect.  She  loved  those  her  Heavenly  Father 
permitted  her  to  call  her  own,  with  a  constancy  and  tenderness  that 
no  language  can  represent.  She  loved  the  Lord  her  God  with  all 
her  soul ;  she  loved  her  neighbor  as  herself.  "  The  souls  of  the 
righteous  are  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  there  shall  no  torment  touch 
them." 

The  scene  now  changes  from  earth  to  heaven.  She  who  has 
been  the  persecuted  sufferer  here  has  taken  her  place  among  the 
martyrs  in  glory,  who,  in  white  robes,  with  palms  in  their  hands, 
constitute  that  cloud  of  witnesses,  and  who  at  times  look  down  upon 
us  with  an  influence  that  is  their  own,  as  an  "  evidence  of  things 
unseen,"  —  showing  us  names  of  redeemed  souls,  here  recorded  in 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  77 

dishonor,  now  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life,  —  ministering 
to  them  who  are  heirs  of  salvation. 

That  there  should  be  the  intercourse  between  this  and  the  spirit- 
ual world  that  is  usual  in  the  present  life,  is  not  to  be  believed  or 
wished  for.  Still,  I  believe  that  something  corresponding  to  this  is 
neither  incredible  nor  undesirable.  It  is  refreshing  to  believe,  that 
one  who  has  been  a  co-worker  in  the  labors  of  a  long  life  of  piety, 
does  not  forget  us  in  a  future  state.  From  the  relation  sustained 
the  greater  part  of  a  long  life,  how  consoling  to  believe  I  am  not 
forgotten  by  her !  We  have  been  companions  in  tribulation,  and 
partakers  in  each  other's  joys.  We  have  been  fellow-laborers 
through  grace,  and  joint  heirs  of  the  hopes  and  consolations  of  the 
Gospel.  While  together,  we  have  often  thought  and  spoken  to 
one  another  of  the  future  ;  and  with  express  reference  to  an  occa- 
sional intercourse  of  friends  separated  by  death.  "  How  pleasant," 
we  have  said,  "if  possible,  after  the  inevitable  separation,  if  the  one 
who  should  go  first  might,  in  some  way,  signify  to  the  one  left, 
that  what  we  read  of  in  the  Bible  as  to  a  future  state  is  a  real- 
ity !  "  We  hoped  it  might  be  so. 

A  year  or  more  had  transpired  after  her  departure.  One  even- 
ing, in  the  family  circle,  we  had  been  conversing  on  the  dear  de- 
parted ones  of  our  number,  of  their  present  possible  enjoyments  and 
employments ;  and,  as  we  were  separating  for  the  night,  I  observed, 
"  Well,  however  they  may  be  occupied,  they  do  not  tell  us  much 
about  it ;  I  suspect  they  are  happy  enough  without  us  " ;  and  so 
retired,  thinking  no  more  of  what  was  said. 

That  very  night,  she  who  was  never  inattentive  to  the  wants  and 
reasonable  requests  of  her  friends  was  apparently  with  me  in  the 
room  where  we  had  so  often  been  together,  hi  a  dress  that  had 
been  a  favorite  one  with  me,  and  with  a  familiar  countenance.  It 
seemed  the  morning  of  a  fine  summer's  day.  The  doors  were  shut, 
and  the  windows  open.  Being  otherwise  busy,  I  did  not  notice  her 
entrance.  She  seemed  to  have  come  in  at  the  window,  a  large  and 
highly  ornamented  butterfly,  a  striking  emblem,  we  know,  of  the 
resurrection,  sweeping  in  graceful  gyrations  around  her  head.  We 
spoke  with  each  other,  like  old  friends,  after  a  long  absence.  She 
very  soon,  and  apparently  in  tears,  threw  herself  on  the  bed. 
Taking  her  by  the  hand,  I  asked  her  what  could  be  the  cause  of 
her  emotion.  She  replied,  "  It  grieves  me  to  think  you  suppose 
that  we  who  are  gone,  and  no  more  to  return,  have  forgotten  you, 


78  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

and  that  we  do  not  care  for  you.  It  is  wholly  a  mistake  :  and  it  is 
m'y  desire  that  you  will  not  another  moment  indulge  the  thought." 
The  excitement  of  the  interview  awoke  me  ;  and,  behold !  it  was  a 
dream.  Let  it  pass  for  what  it  is.  Dreams  are  sometimes  realities. 
There  is  a  providence  in  them.  They  are  the  subject  of  revela- 
tion. "  He  that  hath  a  dream,  let  him  tell  a  dream,"  and  if  it 
confirm  his  faith  and  enliven  his  hopes,  let  him  be  thankful  for  it. 
If  I  could  have  had  my  own  choice  as  to  the  manner  of  such  an 
interview,  I  can  think  of  no  other  that  I  could  have  preferred. 

Hoping  that  it  may  have  the  desired  effect,  I  have  no  reserve  in 
mentioning  another  dream  of  the  same  kind.  Like  the  former,  it 
was  an  interview  between  us,  in  the  same  room.  A  grandchild 
of  ours,  an  infant,  named  for  her  grandmother,  who  with  the  rest 
of  the  family  had  spent  the  summer  with  us  at  Hadley,  started  late 
in  the  season  for  Wisconsin,  where  the  father  had  an  appointment. 
Being  detained  by  the  weather  at  Buffalo,  the  family  were  left 
there  for  the  winter.  The  appointment  could  not  be  dispensed 
with.  The  father  made  his  way  as  he  could.  The  child  died  soon 
after  he  left  Buffalo.  At  home  we  had  not  heard  of  the  death  of 
the  child.  The  dream  referred  to  is  this :  —  I  had  been  out  of  the 
room  at  a  certain  time,  and  as  I  returned,  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  I 
observed  a  child,  as  I  supposed,  asleep  in  the  crib.  I  thought 
nothing  of  it,  and  passed,  without  noticing  it,  and  was  proceeding 
to  put  off  my  clothes,  when  the  grandmother,  who  was  seemingly 
in  the  bed,  observed,  "  You  did  not  notice  our  little  Elizabeth."  I 
looked  into  the  crib,  and  the  child  was  there,  a  corpse.  The  sur- 
prise awoke  me.  The  grandmother  and  the  child  —  the  guardian 
angel  and  her  charge  —  were  no  more  to  be  seen.  An  unusual 
experience  it  was  to  me ;  and,  as  I  awoke,  I  could  not  conceive 
who  the  little  Elizabeth  could  be,  and  what  it  meant.  As  soon  as 
I  could  realize  it  was  a  dream,  I  fell  asleep,  not  without  thinking, 
however,  that  the  dream  had  a  meaning.  It  remained  to  be  pon- 
dered the  next  day  and  afterward,  till  we  were  informed  of  the 
death  of  the  child.  Upon  comparing  dates,  we  found,  as  nearly  as 
we  could  determine,  that  the  two  events,  the  death  of  the  child  and 
the  interview  mentioned,  were  contemporaneous. 

The  lesson  of  the  dream  is,  that  the  dear  ones  who  leave  us  are 
not  dead,  but  gone  before ;  that  the  higher  life  commences  at  the 
death  of  the  body ;  that  heaven  is  a  blessed  society  of  intelligent, 
happy  beings,  extending  how  far  within  the  regions  of  space  illimit- 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  79 

able  we  cannot  tell ;  including  families  and  associations,  adapted  in 
their  organizations  to  the  improvement  in  knowledge  and  virtue  of 
all,  under  their  different  conditions,  who  belong  to  them.  If  so, 
there  is  the  little  one,  with  kindred  friends  and  relations,  restored 
to  the  embraces  of  parents  and  other  dear  departed  ones.  There 
are  the  angels  of  those  spoken  of  by  our  Saviour,  who  behold  the 
face  of  their  Father  in  heaven,  and  thence  derive  such  communi- 
cations as  are  designed  for  the  training  of  those  committed  to  their 
care  for  higher  and  still  higher  enjoyments  and  employments,  world 
without  end.  I  am  glad  to  have  the  opinion  of  such  a  man  as  the 
venerable  Doctor  Lathrop  coinciding  with  my  own. 

He  says:  "There  in  heaven  are  such  pure  and  benevolent 
spirits,  who  are  sent  forth,  trained  to  minister  to  the  heirs  of  salva- 
tion; who  thus  may  be  prepared  to  become  guardian  angels  of 
others,  as  they  arrive ;  and  possibly  to  be  their  pioneers,  companions, 
and  guides,  in  a  future  state."  Believing,  as  we  do,  that  there  may 
be  in  heaven  those  who  are  ministering  spirits  to  those  on  earth, 
hi  whom  they  feel  interested,  why  may  not  our  departed  friends  be 
of  the  number  ?  The  belief  of  such  a  doctrine  is  harmless.  The 
hope  is  transporting.  If  imagination  claim  to  itself  a  portion  in 
these  our  speculations,  it  shall  have  from  me  its  credit  hi  full.  By 
the  proper  improvement  of  all  the  manifestations  of  a  Saviour's 
love,  we  may  constantly  find  new  motives  "  to  run  with  patience  the 
race  set  before  us." 

For  all  this  I  am  indebted,  under  a  kind  Providence,  to  one 
recorded  an  excommunicate.  It  is  cited  not  so  much,  however,  to 
call  your  attention  to  a  delightful  speculation,  possibly  too  much 
overlooked  as  we  read  the  Bible,  as  to  impress  upon  our  minds 
more  forcibly  the  surprising  insensibility  of  all  concerned  in  their 
conduct  toward  one  of  our  number  who,  to  those  best  acquainted 
with  her,  living  and  dying,  has  given  such  shining  evidence  of 
Gospel  sincerity  and  peculiar  nearness  to  God. 

In  tracing  the  above  narrative,  it  has  perhaps  been  repeatedly 
asked  by  children  and  grandchildren :  "  Grandfather,  where  have 
you  been  all  this  while  ?  WTiy  were  not  you  and  our  grandmother 
both  entangled  in  the  meshes  spread  for  you  in  the  excommunica- 
tion ?  Were  not  both  equally  vulnerable  ?  "  The  inquiry  is  per- 
tinent. 

We  were  both  equally  vulnerable  as  heretics,  but  were  not  both 
equally  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church  in  Hadley.  She  was  a  mem- 


80  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

ber  of  that  Church ;  I  was  not.  For  that  reason,  in  what  I  have 
written,  I  have  confined  myself  very  much  to  what  has  been  said 
and  done  by  her  and  her  assailants,  in  the  Church.  Not  having 
been  a  member  of  the  Church  to  which  she  belonged,  I  of  course 
have  not  shared  hi  her  martyrdom.  Our  experience  was  remarka- 
bly the  same,  in  our  enlargement  of  our  views,  about  the  same  time, 
of  Divine  truth,  and  she  had  my  entire  sympathy  in  every  scene 
of  the  tragedy.  We  were  both  forbidden  to  commune  in  the 
Church  of  Hadley,  where  we  resided. 

While  Preceptor  of  Hopkins  Academy,  I  seldom  attended  Asso- 
ciations. When  I  went  to  attend  the  one  to  which  I  belonged, 
to  request  a  dismission,  I  found  our  moderator  at  his  post,  wide 
awake.  He  had  not  wholly  forgotten  the  strays  of  his  flock.  As 
I  went  in,  I  found  the  Association  had  Brother  Bailey  of  Pelham, 
under  the  same  condemnation  of  heresy,  on  trial.  The  first  thing 
I  had  to  do  was  to  request  them  to  suspend  operations  just  long 
enough  to  put  me  on  trial  with  him,  and,  as  time  was  always  precious, 
that  it  might  be  done  forthwith.  My  advice  was  not  taken.  In 
due  tune,  however,  I  was  informed  that  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  look  into  the  matter.  The  result,  which  is  on  my  manuscripts, 
is  not  worth  transcribing.  My  correspondence  with  the  committee 
thus  concludes:  — 

"I  shall  always  be  happy  to  see  and  to  entertain  you  at  my 
house,  and  if  you  and  your  worthy  colleagues  think  proper  to 
execute  your  commission,  you  will  commonly  find  me  near  home, 
during  the  week,  and  may  depend  on  a  civil  reception ;  though  you 
cannot  believe  me  so  destitute  of  self-respect  as  to  make  an  ap- 
pointment with  you  that  will  make  me  in  any  sense  accessory  to 
the  views  of  the  Association,  in  that  system  of  persecution  on 
which  they  have  entered,  or  amenable  to  their  jurisdiction  for  my 
opinions." 

I  am  always  happy  to  quote  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lathrop,  who  well 
observes:  "There  are  some  that  lay  great  weight  upon  certain 
peculiarities  which  discriminate  one  sect  from  another,  and  de- 
nounce as  hypocrites,  fools,  and  blind  all  who  cannot  adopt  the  same. 
This  illiberal  spirit  is  often  more  injurious  to  true  religion  than  the 
errors  which  it  reprobates.  There  are  errors  of  opinion  that  are 
inconsistent  with  religion,  and  we  usually  see  their  effects  in  a 
licentious  and  immoral  life.  Against  these  we  should  contend 
earnestly.  But  errors  which  have  no  tendency  to  corrupt  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  81 

heart  and  vitiate  the  morals,  and  which  do  not  appear  to  have  this 
effect,  ought  to  be  treated  with  tenderness  and  candor." 

Again,  he  says :  "  We  may  think  a  brother  has  imbibed  certain 
errors  unfavorable  to  religion  ;  what  shall  we  do  ?  Shall  we  sep- 
arate him  from  our  company,  and  deny  him  all  brotherly  and  minis- 
terial intercourse  ?  No.  This  will  disgust  him.  This  will  excite  in 
him  a  prejudice  against  us.  This  will  place  him  at  a  greater  dis- 
tance from  us.  Every  man  loves  society ;  especially  the  society  of 
those  of  the  same  profession.  If  he  cannot  enjoy  it  in  one  place, 
he  will  seek  it  in  another.  And  perhaps  he  will  mingle  with  some 
who  will  confirm  him  in  his  errors.  By  our  friendly  intercourse 
and  united  labors  we  may  be  fellow-helpers  to  the  truth.  But  by 
reciprocal  recriminations  and  reprisals  we  shall  wound  the  common 
cause,  and  give  advantage  to  the  common  adversary." 

I  suppose  an  excision  from  the  Association  followed.  I  do  not 
recollect  receiving  any  vote  of  theirs  on  the  subject. 

In  the  discursive  thoughts  I  have  been  giving  you  of  the  origin 
and  progress  of  this  affair,  we  have  seen,  in  part,  how  they  stand 
connected  with  effects  and  consequences,  of  what  the  Church  and 
pastor  in  Hadley  have  done,  as  to  their  own  individual  and  social 
happiness.  We  have  endeavored  to  show  them  their  faces  in  facts 
and  anecdotes,  and  more  especially  in  the  "  glass  of  God's  word," 
in  the  Holy  Bible. 

There  were  many  who  have  been  on  the  stage  of  action  while 
the  events  here  related  were  transpiring,  who  have  gone  to  their 
great  account,  who,  if  still  among  us,  would  not  here  see  their 
faces,  standing  aloof,  at  the  time,  as  they  did. 

For  those  that  are  left,  together  with  those  that  are  coming  on 
to  the  stage  of  life  among  us,  I  have  still  a  few  words  to  add,  as  to 
some  of  the  prominent  effects  to  be  expected  from  such  a  spirit, 
thus  indulged  and  cherished  in  our  midst.  "  This,  to  show  to  the 
house  of  Jacob  the  effect  of  their  transgressions,"  as  I  am  bound  to 
do.  The  sins  of  transgressors  are  sure  to  find  them  out,  either  in 
this  or  the  world  to  come.  Public  bodies,  though  as  such  they  do 
not  expect  to  suffer  in  the  life  to  come,  yet  as  individuals  may ; 
and  with  all  their  enormities,  they  are  to  know  that,  "  though  hand 
join  in  hand,  the  wicked  among  them  shall  not  go  unpunished." 

The  chief  wrong  that  yet  remains  is  the  retention,  on  the  church- 
book  of  the  Hadley  parish,  of  an  uncancelled  record,  which  is  a 
virtual  expulsion  of  a  holy  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
11 


82  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

It  would  not  be  profitable  to  pursue  the  painful  subject  into  all  its 
disgusting  details.  What  is  now  before  us  has  been  given  to  exhibit 
fairly,  though  faintly,  the  disinterested  spirit  of  one  who  deserves 
to  be  reckoned  among  the  meek  and  humble  martyrs  of  a  bitter 
local  bigotry,  and  an  unrighteous  zeal,  under  the  abused  name  of 
religion.  The  great  evil,  still  abroad  in  our  midst,  is  the  injury  in- 
flicted on  the  cause  of  evangelical  piety  and  the  reproach  to  which 
the  Church  of  Christ  is  exposed,  in  the  estimation  of  those  who 
are  coming  forward  to  take  our  places.  What  remains  of  the  storm 
that  has  howled  around  us  is  the  rumbling  of  the  distant  thunder 
after  the  tempest.  The  violence  of  the  tempest  has  subsided, 
while  those  among  the  living  who  have  been  most  exposed  escape, 
not  only  unharmed,  but  are  now  enjoying  the  quiet  and  refresh- 
ment of  the  slumbering  infant  in  the  nurse's  arms. 

"The  word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  any 
two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the  soul 
and  spirit,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart."  It  is  surprising  to  see  with  what  exactness  the  sacred 
volume  portrays  the  transgressions  of  individuals  and  communities. 
With  its  appropriate  majesty,  with  its  power  and  purity,  adapting 
itself,  as  it  does,  to  every  condition  of  life,  with  its  spiritual  desti- 
nies, enjoyments,  and  hopes,  it  is  what  we  all  want  to  rouse  us  to 
diligence  and  duty.  It  affords  a  copious  illustration  of  character  in 
the  case  before  us.  See  what  it  says,  Third  Epistle  of  John,  9, 10 : 
"  I  wrote  unto  the  Church,  but  Diotrephes,  who  loveth  to  have  the 
pre-eminence  among  them,  receiveth  us  not ;  therefore  will  I  re- 
member the  deeds  which  he  doeth,  prating  against  us  with  ma- 
licious words ;  and  not  content  therewith,  neither  doth  he  himself 
receive  the  brethren,  and  forbiddeth  them  that  would,  and  casteth 
them  out  of  the  Church." 

In  the  footsteps  of  the  Antichrist  of  the  New  Testament,  we 
have  a  picture  of  the  hateful  power  to  be  resisted  by  every  per- 
secuted follower  of  the  Redeemer.  Adam  Clarke,  in  his  Commen- 
tary, says  :  "  Even  Protestantism  may  have  its  Antichrist,  as  well 
as  Popery.  Every  man,  every  teacher  and  writer,  who,  in  the 
exercise  of  an  exclusive,  persecuting  spirit,  opposes  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  is  a  genuine  Antichrist,  no  matter  where  or  among  whom 
he  is  found." 

On  a  review  of  what  I  have  presented,  I  am  persuaded  that,  if 
the  case  of  discipline  had  been  postponed  any  longer,  it  would  have 


ECCLESIASTICAL    INTOLERANCE.  83 

been  forgotten  in  that  abyss  of  the  past,  where  God  kindly  hides, 
in  mercy,  abominable  and  offensive  things,  till  they  may  have  a 
hearing  before  a  tribunal  of  perfect  equity,  where  all  secrets  will 
be  laid  open  and  exact  justice  will  be  meted  out. 

"We  may,  in  the  narrative,  be  taught  how  our  wrong-doing 
toward  others  may  be  followed  by  being  left  "  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of 
our  own  ways,  and  being  filled  with  our  own  devices  " ;  and  that  in 
wronging  others  we  wrong  ourselves  worse.  This  is  now  before 
all  who  choose  to  observe  it,  in  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
parish. 


III. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 


IN  Connecticut  I  became  acquainted  with  a  Congregational  body 
of  ministers  who,  before  my  connection  with  them,  had  silenced  one 
of  their  number  for  heterodoxy ;  a  man  of  high  standing  in  his 
profession  for  character,  and  otherwise  eminent.  In  free  conversa- 
tion with  one  of  his  brethren,  he  was  reported  to  say  that  Chris- 
tianity was  all  a  mummery.  The  report,  I  found,  was  generally 
spoken  of  in  the  vicinity,  and  was  confirmed  to  me  by  the  brethren, 
as  I  generally  met  them.  I  could  not  but  believe,  I  thought  I 
must  believe,  what  was  thus  reported  with  entire  freedom. 

Some  time  after,  the  offending  brother  wrote  me,  informing  me 
of  what  he  had  heard,  and  wished  to  know  my  authority  for  speak- 
ing publicly  of  him  as  an  Infidel.  I  informed  him  in  answer,  as 
related  above.  I  verily  thought  that,  in  doing  as  I  had  done,  I  was 
doing  my  duty  to  God  and  man.  I  acted  according  to  the  light  I 
then  had ;  though  now  I  see  it  was  all  untruthfulness,  not,  however, 
of  my  own  framing. 

"With  the  convictions  I  now  have,  I  acted  and  thought  wrongly ; 
inexperienced,  incredulous,  and  duped  as  I  then  was,  I  was  doing 
my  brother  an  injury  unawares.  I  am  thankful  my  life  is  spared 
to  see  and  acknowledge  the  wrong.  Several  letters  were  inter- 
changed, and  I  never  knew,  till  lately,  the  correspondence  was  in 
existence,  he  and  I  both  having  left  that  part  of  the  country  about 
the  same  tune. 

Quite  lately  the  correspondence  was  observed,  by  one  of  our 
family,  in  the  Law  Library  of  Harvard  College.  I  was  not  a  little 
surprised,  in  being  told  of  it,  and  sent  forthwith  for  the  volume, 
and,  according  to  my  recollection,  found  all  right. 

It  retains  authenticity,  though  not  the  fairness  I  expected  to 
.see.  The  aggrieved  brother  was  an  injured  man ;  he  knew  and 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT.  85 

felt  itjAnff  wrote  under  the  influence  of  it;  and  at  the  close,  putting 
on  his  ^jpndemning  cap,  he  dealt  out  their  sentence,  with  an  un- 
sparing hand  upon  all,  as  he  thought  they  deserved.  I  was  unhap- 
pily among  the  number. 

I  have  no  inclination  to  follow  him  in  his  criticisms  and  animad- 
versions, many  of  which  are  one-sided  and  severe ;  but  all  which  I 
am  willing  now  to  overlook  and  forget.  It  is  a  lesson  which  many 
have  yet  to  learn,  that  the  end  does  not  sanctify  the  means.  From 
suitable  inquiry,  I  have  no  doubt  it  may  be  known,  without  much 
trouble,  that  the  persecuted  brother  lived  and  died,  from  thorough 
conviction,  a  Christian  Unitarian.  In  speaking  of  him,  at  that 
time,  his  brethren  and  contemporaries  might  have  considered  them- 
selves justified  in  calling  him  either  Apostate,  or  Unitarian,  or 
Sabellian,  or  Infidel,  using  the  terms  then,  as  many  seem  to  choose 
to  do  now,  as  interchangeable  and  synonymous. 

This  explanation  gives  a  clew  to  the  mischiefs  arising  from  the 
bandying  of  scandals;  and  the  inconveniences  resulting  from  a 
state  of  society  where,  by  the  confusion  of  tongues,  together  with  a 
suitable  infusion  of  wounded  pride,  a  band  of  brothers  may  be 
transmuted  to  a  Babel. 

With  high  interest  I  have  read,  of  late,  the  labors  of  the  antiqua- 
rians of  the  East,  Layard  and  others,  at  work  in  exhuming  the 
splendid  relics  of  ancient  times,  with  all  their  wealth  and  mag- 
nificence. But  ha  raking  open  the  cinders  of  controversy,  I  con- 
sider myself  as  liberating  from  a  confinement  of  fifty  years,  as  in  a 
Protestant  Inquisition,  the  reputation  of  a  follower  of  Christ,  and 
fellow-laborer  in  the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  "  He  is  dead,  yet 
speaketh." 

At  the  late  gathering  of  the  Consociation  of  Litchfield  County, 
I  perceive,  by  their  allusions  to  this  brother,  in  some  of  their 
speeches,  he  was  not  forgotten.  A  root  of  bitterness,  here  and 
there,  still  shows  itself,  yet,  I  hope,  to  be  eradicated.  It  is  fervently 
wished  it  may  soon  be  plucked  up,  root  and  branch,  no  more  to  be 
seen  in  the  garden  of  our  God. 

The  foregoing  statement  I  have  transcribed,  on  a  few  leaves  in 
manuscript,  of  a  suitable  size  for  the  volume  in  which  I  found  the 
above  correspondence,  among  other  pamphlets,  bound  and  labelled 
"  State  Papers,"  in  the  Law  Library  of  Harvard  College. 


IV. 

SATAN  A  PERSON. 


IN  the  Second  Sermon  I  declared  my  belief  in  the  existence  of 
a  personal  Devil.  There  are  in  the  world  incarnate  devilish  in- 
fluences, more  than  enough  to  be  spoken  of  or  thought  of  with 
indifference.  But  they  will  never  hurt  those  who  will  not  wrong 
themselves.  As  to  cursing  those  who  are  blessed  of  the  Lord,  we 
cannot  do  it,  with  all  our  aspersions  and  reproaches.  "  The  wise 
shall  inherit  glory."  "  If  thou  be  wise,  thou  shalt  be  wise  for  thy- 
self," and  "If  thou  scornest,  thou  alone  shalt  bear  it." 

"We  are  called  upon  to  "  resist  the  Devil,"  as  a  powerful,  personal, 
and  successful  enemy.  As  has  been  already  avowed,  such  a  char- 
acter must  be  allowed.  "We  occasionally  meet  with  those  who  tell 
us,  "  they  are  not  ignorant  of  his  devices."  I  have  known  of  this 
class  some  of  the  purest,  most  perfect  minds  I  ever  knew.  And  it 
is  necessary,  I  suppose,  to  some,  in  some  such  way,  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  subtlety  of  the  Adversary,  that  they  may  prize  the  love 
and  sufficiency  of  Hun  to  whom  all  devils  are  subject,  "  who  is  the 
wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God  to  salvation."  The  Bible  is 
full  of  the  doctrine,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  it.  There  is 
no  difficulty,  that  I  can  perceive,  in  subscribing  to  the  existence  of 
such  a  being,  as  a  personal  evil  spirit,  with  the  personal  influences 
ascribed  to  him  hi  the  Bible,  as  the  source  of  sin  in  the  world,  with 
its  attendant  evils.  Without  it,  I  find  it  difficult  to  account  for 
what  has  been  passing  in  review  before  us. 

I  have  only  to  add  my  own  experience  in  the  earliest  stages  of 
moral  agency,  which  is  probably  the  period  most  favorable  to  his 
injections.  In  that  experience,  now  perfectly  distinct,  I  recol- 
lect temptations,  to  which  if  I  had  yielded,  it  would  have  been  my 
undoing'. 


SATAN    A    PERSON.  87 

Little  children  are  often  petulant,  peevish,  and  headstrong  in 
their  behavior,  manifesting  turbulent  and  wicked  passions ;  they  are 
undutiful  and  disobedient,  approaching  "  that  rebellion  which  is  as 
the  sin  of  witchcraft."  They  are  unreasonable,  in  persisting  to  ask 
for  things  they  must  not  have ;  and  in  expressing  wishes  that  can- 
not be  gratified.  In  this  they  must  be  unfavorably  noticed,  frowned 
upon,  chastised,  and  severely  so;  according  as  their  offences  are 
aggravated.  Parents  understand  this,  and,  if  faithful,  will  not, 
from  a  feigned  tenderness,  fail  to  inflict  severity.  I  can  remem- 
ber, perfectly  well,  when  this  was  my  lot;  and  O  the  dreadful 
.thought !  the  inveterate  hatred,  for  the  time  being !  the  horrid  oaths 
and  imprecations  suggested,  which  I  longed  to  utter,  but  dared  not 
venture ! 

Again,  I  remember,  when  going  to  school  alone,  I  once  clam- 
bered over  the  wall  into  a  neighbor's  garden,  fenced  in  from  the 
street,  and  pulled  up  by  the  roots  a  number  of  fine,  flourishing 
plants.  I  know  not  how  many,  nor  for  what  reason  I  did  it ;  a 
manifest  temptation  of  the  Wicked  One.  It  was  not  premeditated, 
the  perpetration  of  the  act ;  it  was  not  accompanied  with  any  sort 
of  gratification ;  it  was  never  thought  of  afterward  but  with  self- 
condemning  disgust.  It  was  very  much  so,  as  to  following  bad 
examples  in  school. 

I  do  not  believe  I  ever  uttered  swearing,  cursing,  profane  words 
in  my  life ;  but  I  remember  when  I  longed  to  do  it.  In  going 
home  from  school,  some  of  the  boys,  at  times,  were  in  high  spirits, 
showed  off  in  the  utterance  of  foul  speeches;  all  indicative  of 
something  brave  and  manly.  So  it  seemed  to  them,  and  so  it 
appeared  to  me.  And  O  how  I  longed  to  imitate  them !  Nobody 
can  tell  the  horrid  conflict  I  endured,  —  the  effect  of  a  religious 
education,  doubtless,  coming  in  competition  with  the  wiles  of  the 
Adversary  through  the  medium  of  a  bad  example.  Very  much 
the  same  emotions  I  had  to  contend  with,  reading  in  the  Primer  the 
dialogue  of  "  Christ,  Youth,  and  the  Devil."  I  was  for  a  long 
time  inclined  to  think,  what  I  knew  to  be  wrong,  that  the  latter 
had  the  best  of  the  argument. 

Though  often  tried  in  this  way,  I  cannot  sufficiently  praise  that 
adorable  grace,  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  institutions  of  a 
Christian  education,  I  hope  has  led  me  to  say,  in  some  measure, 
habitually,  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  "  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan." 


88  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

The  Devil  is  never  more  at  home  than  he  is  sometimes  in 
Church  discipline  and  ecclesiastical  councils,  such  as  those  before 
which  we  have  been  severely  tried.  He  has  displayed  himself 
more  adroitly  in  this  than  in  any  other  field  of  action  that  I  have 
been  personally  acquainted  with.  His  success  in  Eden  was  won- 
derful ;  and  from  that  tune  has  continued  to  work  on,  in  greater 
and  smaller  events,  till  he  drove  the  swine  into  the  depths  of  the 
sea.  Therefore,  in  whatever  shape  he  comes  to  us,  from  what- 
ever quarter,  or  under  whatever  disguise,  we  ought  to  feel  the  force 
of  the  old  motto,  Obsta principiis,  and  to  remember  that  our  Father 
in  heaven  is  a  prayer-hearing  God.  If  his  emissaries  persist  in 
infringing  upon  our  rights  and  privileges  and  comforts,  we  must 
persist  in  calling  upon  them  to  show  their  credentials  ;  if  they  can- 
not do  this,  we  must  be  excused  from  attempting  to  show  their  im- 
potency  and  presumption,  their  usurpation  and  devilishness.  We 
are  not  to  suffer  ourselves  to  become  a  prey  to  the  sophistry  and 
sorcery  of  evil  spirits,  with  our  eyes  open,  without  a  rebuke.  Their 
stratagems  may  be  baffled,  if  suitably  resisted. 

The  Devil  may  blind  the  eyes,  pamper  the  pride,  and  inflate  the 
vanity  and  selfishness  of  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  who 
listen  to  his  enticements.  Nevertheless,  "  The  foundation  of  the 
Lord  standeth  sure  ;  the  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  How  ? 
By  their  discipleship.  Not,  you  observe,  by  their  "  vain  babblings," 
by  then:  "  striving  about  words  to  no  profit,  but  to  the  subverting  of 
the  minds  of  then*  hearers  " ;  not  by  their  professions,  their  creeds, 
and  their  denunciations ;  but  by  their  religious  experience.  "  Let 
every  man  that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ  depart  from  iniquity." 
Moral  agents  must  be  known  by  their  character,  and  by  it  will  stand 
or  fall  in  the  great  day  of  account.  "  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that 
are  his."  He  knoweth  what  they  have  done  in  the  cause  of  truth, 
and  they  never  will  be  forgotten. 

This  world  in  which  we  live  is  designed  by  its  Author  as  a 
nursery  for  heaven,  —  an  illustrious  theatre  for  the  display  of  his 
character,  in  the  work  of  redemption.  It  is  a  world  of  trial,  temp- 
tation, and  sin,  as  it  necessarily  must  be.  From  everything  around 
us,  a  voice  comes  to  us,  from  the  beginning,  "  Look  unto  me  and  be 
ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

An  antagonistic  power,  the  Adversary,  in  some  of  his  agencies,  has 
always  been  ready  to  show  himself  in  his  appropriate  character, 
saying,  "  All  these  things  will  I  give  you,  if  you  will  fall  down  and 


SATAN    A    PERSON.  89 

worship  me."  With  some  he  has  been  successful ;  with  others  not. 
The  progenitors  of  our  race,  though  they  yielded  to  the  first  assault, 
were  not  left  to  perish  in  disobedience.  In  the  "  Lamb  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,"  they  were  pointed  to  a  Hope  which, 
"  like  an  anchor  to  the  soul,  is  both  sure  and  steadfast,"  and  not  in 
vain. 

From  the  first  period,  we  gather  but  little  information  from  the 
sacred  records,  for  many  hundred  years ;  but  enough  to  show  that 
the  wickedness  of  man  was  great  upon  the  earth.  Persecution, 
with  its  Satanic  cognates,  was  rife.  In  the  companionship  of  Abel, 
and  Enoch,  and  Noah,  however,  it  must  be  believed  that  many 
"  walked  with  God,"  and  many  sons  and  daughters  of  God  "  were 
brought  home  to  glory  "  ;  but  not  enough  to  save  the  world  from  a 
general  deluge.  The  builders  of  Babel  were  forthwith  confounded 
in  their  project.  From  the  family  of  Noah  the  whole  earth  was 
overspread  with  inhabitants,  with  whom  God  renewed  his  covenant 
of  mercy.  In  the  history  of  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful, 
and  of  his  descendants,  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  of  the  chosen 
people  of  God  and  their  tribes,  we  have  the  history  of  the  Church, 
and  the  progress  of  the  work  of  redemption,  to  the  Christian  era. 

There  is  little  to  be  gathered  from  the  Old  Testament  on  the 
subject  upon  which  I  have  been  writing  to  you.  The  New  Testa- 
ment opens  with  the  birth  of  Him  in  whom  shadows  vanish,  cere- 
monies are  done  away,  and  who,  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  became 
the  Life  of  the  world,  the  great  Reformer  and  Redeemer  of  the 
world. 

What  He  and  his  followers  underwent  has  taught  us  what  Chris- 
tians of  all  coming  time  had  reason  to  expect ;  what  may  be  rea- 
sonably expected  of  them,  in  imitation  of  his  example.  See 
Edwards's  "  History  of  Redemption." 

We  here  learn  our  true  position,  as  candidates  for  a  higher  life,  in 
glory,  beyond  the  grave. 

At  an  early  period,  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  we  become 
familiar  with  sanhedrim,  and  sects,  and  synods,  and  ecclesiastical 
associations  without  number. 

There  are  bishops  and  priests,  cardinals,  presbyters,  and  deacons, 
popes  and  par-popes,  ready  enough  to  officiate,  as  called  upon,  down 
to  the  times  and  places  in  which  we  live,  and  with  whom  we  are  but 
too  well  acquainted  in  our  country  parishes.  I  am  sorry  to  have 
this  to  say  of  any  of  the  order  of  whom  I  am  one ;  and  who,  all  of 
12 


90  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

us,  ought  to  be  ministers  of  God  for  good,  in  the  stations  here 
assumed  by  us ;  in  all  things  approving  ourselves,  as  faithful  servants, 
giving  no  offence  in  anything,  that  the  ministry  be  not  blamed. 

It  is  that  which,  all  along,  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  impress 
upon  your  minds,  my  dear  children,  that  Christ  and  his  Gospel  have 
nothing  to  do  with  a  scene  of  persecution  like  that  with  which  we 
have  here  been  conversant.  It  belongs  to  another  kingdom,  under 
the  "  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  that  worketh  in  the  children  of 
disobedience."  I  feel  a  responsibility  which  I  must  thus  avow  and 
reassert.  I  know,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  hand  of  God  is  in  it. 
It  is  designed  for  our  good.  I  am  thankful  for  it,  not  at  the  hand 
of  a  persecuting,  anathematizing  cabinet.  I  am  bound,  in  the  ful- 
filment of  my  mission,  thus  to  bear  my  testimony.  It  is  no  new 
thing  under  the  sun.  It  is  what  Christ  and  his  Apostles  have  gone 
through  before  us.  The  crime  brought  against  them  was,  "  They 
transgressed  the  tradition  of  the  elders."  They  opened  their  eyes 
to  see,  and  read,  and  think,  and  judge  for  themselves,  on  religious 
subjects  ;  we  do  the  same.  In  this,  they  were  in  the  minority ;  so 
are  we.  Their  place  of  worship,  at  the  time,  was  the  upper  room, 
their  number  being  one  hundred  and  twenty.  Ours  has  been  often 
about  the  same.  The  instrumentalities  of  their  repeated  insults  and 
injuries  were  "  the  counsels  of  men,"  goaded  on  by  the  pride  of 
opinion  and  power.  The  same  traits  may  be  traced  in  what  we 
have  been  made  to  feel. 

To  accomplish  the  work,  usurpation  and  tyranny  must  co-operate. 
It  is  the  union  of  Pilate  and  Herod  that  makes  the  majorities  that 
give  success  to  the  haughty  and  designing  ones  of  the  earth.  Thus 
situated,  we  know  too  well  what  was  done  in  the  earlier  ages  of 
Christendom,  in  the  union  of  Pagan  and  Christian  powers,  when 
the  crowns  and  the  sceptres  of  the  Caesars  were  laid  at  the  feet  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff.  The  Beast  and  his  image,  the  Man  of  sin, 
Babylon,  the  mother  of  harlots,  the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring, 
men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear  and  expectation  of  those  things 
that  were  coming  upon  the  earth,  —  form  some  of  the  graphic  fea- 
tures of  the  Antichrist  of  Revelation.  Church  and  State  united, 
the  powers  of  heaven  were  shaken.  What  was  designed  to  become 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  upon  earth  became  at  times  the  kingdom  of 
the  Adversary,  —  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent  that  drew  after  him 
the  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven.  "  And  there  was  war  in 
heaven;  and  Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon; 


SATAN    A    PERSON.  91 

and  the  dragon  fought,  and  his  angels,  till  the  blood  flowed,  even  to 
the  horse  bridles."  Thousands  of  thousands,  and  ten  times  thou- 
sands twice  told,  would  fail  to  tell  the  number  of  the  souls  of  the 
witnesses  slain  for  the  word  of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 
Christ  foresaw  the  whole,  and  did  not  fail  to  speak  of  it  repeatedly 
to  his  disciples.  "  They  shall  lay  their  hands  on  you,  and  perse- 
cute you,  delivering  you  up  to  the  synagogues  and  into  prisons. 
Ye  shall  be  betrayed,  both  by  brethren,  kinsfolk,  and  friends." 
It  was  prophecy  to  them;  to  us  it  is  history.  They  heard  the 
warning  from  the  mouth  of  their  Master.  They  soon  became  the 
witnesses  of  the  truth  he  told  them.  They  had  trials  of  cruel 
mockings  and  scourgings,  moreover  of  bonds  and  imprisonments. 
They  were  stoned,  were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain 
with  the  sword.  Stephen  was  stoned  to  death,  calling  on  the  name 
of  the  Lord.  The  other  Apostles  followed  in  quick  succession. 
The  blood  of  the  martyrs,  however,  became  the  seed  of  the 
Church. 

Though,  in  the  conflict  of  ages,  the  power  of  the  Beast  and  his 
image  was  often  prominent,  they  were  never  suffered  to  prevail. 
In  the  darkest  night  that  followed,  "  He  who  walketh  in  the  midst 
of  the  golden  candlesticks,  and  holdeth  the  stars  in  his  right  hand," 
was  with  them  as  their  guardian  and  their  God.  In  the  reforma- 
tions under  Huss,  Luther,  Melancthon,  Wickliffe,  and  others,  fresh 
tokens  of  his  love  were  afforded.  The  discovery  and  settlement  of 
America  becomes  an  era  in  the  cause  of  freedom. 

Usurpation  and  tyranny  have  taken  here  a  deadly  blow.  Occa- 
sionally, the  arrogancy  and  pretension  of  councils  and  consociations 
show  themselves  among  us ;  but,  in  the  event,  are  made  to  feel 
their  impotency,  while  those  for  whom  the  degradation  is  intended 
count  it  all  joy  thus  to  suffer  for  their  Master. 

Sorrowing,  indeed,  the  cup  of  trembling  is  put  into  their  hands ; 
yet,  suffused  with  the  balm  of  Gilead,  that  cup  becomes  fragrant  with 
a  joy  with  which  the  stranger  intermeddleth  not ;  and  to  the  testi- 
mony of  those  who  have  gone  before,  they  are  able  to  add  their 
own,  "  as  sorrowing,  yet  always  rejoicing." 

Such  is  the  picture,  in  miniature,  of  a  fallen  world,  —  fallen, 
though  not  forsaken.  It  has  ever  been  under  the  inspection  and 
providence  of  one  who,  out  of  every  kingdom,  and  tongue,  and 
nation,  has  had  a  people,  as  "  a  seal  upon  his  heart,  and  a  seal  upon 
his  arm  " ;  that  great  multitude  which  no  man  can  number.  "  He 


92  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

had  his  way  in  the  sea,  his  path  in  the  great  waters,  and  his  foot- 
steps are  not  known."     "  But  the  end  is  not  yet." 

What  we  know  not  now,  as  to  many  of  the  dispensations  of  his 
providence,  we  shall  know  hereafter.  Probably  the  Church  on 
earth  has  seen  her  darkest  day,  and  the  Accuser  of  the  brethren 
has  received  his  deadly  wound. 


V. 


CREED.          * 

IN  connection  with  the  preceding  Notes,  it  may  not  be  thought 
out  of  place  if  I  insert  a  statement  of  my  religious  belief,  as  I  have 
received  it  from  the  Word  of  God.  Creeds  are  capable  of  great 
abuse.  They  may  be  turned  into  chains  on  the  human  mind,  and 
engines  of  ecclesiastical  persecution.  As  simple  declarations  of 
social  or  individual  faith,  they  are  harmless. 

I.  I  believe  in  one  God,  our  Father  and  our  Friend,  in  heaven 
and  in  earth,  in  this  and  in  all  worlds,  underived,  independent,  om- 
nipotent, omnipresent,  holy  in  all  his  ways  and  in  all  his  works,  — 
the  Holy  One,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  whose  providence  is 
over  all  the  works  of  his  hands,  good  and  evil ;  who  will  cause  the 
wrath  of  man  and  the  rage  of  devils  so  to  praise  him  as  to  subserve 
the  purposes  of  his  righteous  government ;  and  will  so  reward  the 
penitent  and  humble  as  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped. 

II.  I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  Immanuel,  God 
with  us  (Matt.  i.  23)  ;    Son  of  Abraham  (Matt,  i.) ;    Son  of  David 
(Matt.  i.  1)  ;  Son  of  Mary  (Matt.  i.  25).     I  believe  in  the  essential 
glory  of  Christ :  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace, 
good-will  towards  men  " ;  "  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and 
the  express  image  of  his  person."    "  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in 
heaven  and  on  earth." 

I  believe  in  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  the  Son :  that  he  is  the 
plenipotentiary  and  vicegerent  of  God  on' earth :  testifying  the  truth 
to  us  on  all  important  subjects,  as  to  Atonement,  Reconciliation,  and 
Redemption  brought  about  by  his  example,  by  his  holy  life,  by  his 
sacrificial  death,  by  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  by  the  power  of 
his  resurrection,  agreeably  to  his  own  prediction,  by  his  triumphant 
ascension  and  prevalent  intercessions.  I  believe  that  he  will  be 


94  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

our  final  and  impartial  Judge,  and  that  for  all  who  receive  him  in 
faith  there  is  the  blessed  hope  of  a  life  everlasting. 

HI.  I  believe  in  God,  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  one  only  Living  and 
True  God,  the  Comforter,  Kenewer,  and  Sanctifier  of  the  souls  of 
believers. 

IV.  I  believe  that  God  governs  the  world  by  agencies  and  in- 
strumentalities both  good  and  bad,  of  all  orders  and  degrees,  per- 
sonal and  impersonal,  relative  and  social,  ideal  and  substantial, 
metaphorical  and  material,  —  including  the  Mediator  of  the  New 
Covenant,  Michael  anfl.  his  angels,  holy  spirits  innumerable,  the 
hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  sealed  from  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel,  the  elders  and  the  living  creatures  clothed  in  white  robes, 
with  palms  in  their  hands,  having  the  seals  of  the  Living  God,  — 
the  spirits  of  those  who  have  dwelt  with  us  here  in  the  body,  and 
who  have  so  accomplished  the  period  of  the  probation  here  assigned 
them  as  to  be  ministering  spirits  around  the  throne  of  God  on  high, 
whose  business  it  may  be  to  minister  to  those  who  are  heirs  of 
salvation,  —  the  Guardian  Angels  of  those  destined  to  a  blessed 
immortality,  to  welcome  them  home  to  a  glory  that  awaits  them 
beyond  the  grave. 

These  on  the  one  hand.     On  the  other,  — 

V.  I  believe  in  the  existence  of  the  Devil  and  his  angels,  "  that 
old  serpent,"  known  since  the  Fall  as  the  Man  of  Sin,  Antichrist, 
and  the  Babylon  of  the  Bible  ;  and  as  the  Beelzebub,  in  Pandemo- 
nium, of  Milton,  with  his  "  dominations,  thrones,  princedoms,  virtues, 
and  powers,"  —  the  infidelity  of  Rome  heathen  and  Rome  Christian, 
the  Delusion  of  the  False  Prophet  in  the  horrors  of  Popery,  down 
to  the  tribunals,  and  ecclesiastical  councils,  and  Protestant  usurpa- 
tion and  tyranny  of  our  own  day.     Amen. 


VI. 

GENEALOGIES. 


"  THESE  SOUGHT   THEIR  REGISTER  AMONG   THOSE  THAT  WERE  RECKONED 

BY  GENEALOGY."  —  Nehemiali  vii.  64. 


HUNTINGTON. 

I  BEGIN  with  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Joseph  Huntington,  D.  D., 
of  Coventry,  Connecticut,  to  his  brother,  Eliphalet  Huntington,  of 
Windham. 

"  Near  the  close  of  the  reign  and  tragical  death  of  Charles  the 
First,  king  of  Great  Britain,  i.  e.  near  the  year  1640,  the  Original 
Stock  of  our  family,  in  America,  who  was  a  citizen  of  Norwich,  in 
England,  and  a  religious  Puritan,  under  persecution  (with  many 
others,  in  those  days),  with  his  wife  and  three  sons,  embarked  for 
America.  His  name  was  Simon  Huntington.  This  good  man  was 
grandfather  to  your  grandfather  and  mine.  He  was  near  fifty  years 
of  age,  and  his  wife  some  years  younger.  Their  three  sons  were 
in  the  bloom  of  youth.  Their  names  were  Christopher,  Simon,  and 
Samuel.  They  made  their  course  for  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut 
River.*  But  our  progenitor,  being  seized  with  a  violent  fever  and 
dysentery,  died  within  sight  of  the  shore,  whither  he  was  brought, 
and  now  lies  buried,  either  in  Saybrook  or  Lyme,  as  both  towns 
were  but  one  at  first. 

"  His  widow,  our  grandfather's  grandmother,  was  a  lady  of  good 
family,  piety,  and  virtue,  had  a  valuable  fortune,  left  her  in  money, 
and  not  long  after  she  married  a  gentleman  in  Windsor,  which 
town  was  settled  almost  as  early  as  any  in  Connecticut.  His  name 

*  In  some  of  these  particulars,  this  account  differs  from  that  of  the  care- 
ful historian  of  the  Huntington  Family,  —  Rev.  E.  B.  Huntington  of 
Stamford,  Connecticut,  —  whose  elaborate  work  is  soon  to  appear  in  print. 


96  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

was  Stoughton.  There  the  good  lady  finished  her  life,  in  affluence 
and  comfort. 

"  The  three  sons  settled  first  in  Saybrook ;  but  soon  after,  the 
younger,  named  Samuel,  moved  into  New  Jersey,  and  settled  there, 
in  Newark,  where  there  is  a  respectable  family  of  our  name  and 
kindred,  though  not  very  numerous  in  the  branches  of  it. 

"  Not  long  after  the  settlement  of  our  ancestors  at  Saybrook,  the 
venerable  Mr.  Fitch  came  over,  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of 
them. 

"  Soon  after  this,  they  made  the  discovery  of  the  township  we 
call  Norwich,  and  which  they  so  named  in  regard  to  the  city  Nor- 
wich, in  England,  from  which  the  most  respectable  part  of  them 
came. 

"  The  people  began  to  emigrate  from  Saybrook  to  Norwich,  in 
considerable  numbers,  and  dearly  loved  their  minister.  A  warm 
contention  arose  between  the  emigrants  and  those  that  remained  at 
Saybrook,  with  regard  to  their  minister,  which  Mr.  Fitch  decided 
very  wisely.  He  told  them  that  he  had  a  dear  love  for  them  all ; 
but  that  he  could  do  no  other  than  to  cleave  to  the  major  part, 
wheresoever  their  residence  might  be.  Accordingly,  as  the  greater 
part  of  his  charge  soon  removed  to  Norwich,  he  also  settled  there ; 
was  the  first  minister  of  that  town,  a  faithful  and  worthy  servant  of 
Christ,  and  a  friend  to  the  souls  of  men.  Laboring  many  years  in 
the  sacred  work,  till  old  age  deprived  him  of  further  usefulness,  he 
then  removed  to  Lebanon,  and  there  the  good  man  died.  He  was 
the  progenitor  of  all  that  bore  the  name  in  Norwich,  and  the  towns 
adjacent. 

"  But  to  return  to  our  family.  About  the  time  that  Samuel,  be- 
fore mentioned,  removed  to  Newark,  the  other  two  brethren  came 
to  Norwich,  Connecticut,  namely,  Christopher  and  Simon,  and  there 
lived  in  piety,  honor,  and  prosperity,  to  a  good  old  age. 

"  The  sons  of  Christopher  were  Christopher,  Thomas,  and  John. 
The  sons  of  this  last-mentioned  Christopher  were  Isaac,  Jabez,t 
Matthew,  Hezekiah,  John,  and  Jeremiah.  The  sons  of  Thomas 
were  Thomas,  Jedediah,  Christopher,  Eliezer,  William,  and  Simon. 
John  left  but  one  son,  bearing  his  own  name. 

"  This,  you  will  note,  brings  the  family  of  our  pedigree  down,  in 
one  branch  of  it,  to  a  collateral  line  with  your  father  and  mine,  i.  e. 
in  the  branch  of  Christopher,  who  was  the  son  of  Simon,  who  was 
the  Original  Stock  of  all  who  bear  the  name  in  this  country. 


GENEALOGIES.  97 

"  I  next  acquaint  you  with  the  other  branch,  the  branch  Simon, 
son  of  the  original  Simon,  from  which  you  and  I  have  our  descent 
direct.  His  sons  were  Simon,  Joseph,  Samuel,\  Daniel,  and  James. 
The  sons  of  the  last-mentioned  Simon  were  Simon,  Ebenezer,  and 
Joshua.  The  sons  of  Joseph  were  Joseph,  Nathaniel,  Jonathan, 
David,  and  Solomon.  The  sons  of  Samuel  were  Samuel,  Caleb, 
John,  and  Simon.  The  sons  of  Daniel  were  Daniel,  Jonathan,  and 
Benjamin.  The  sons  of  James  were  James,  Peter,  and  Nathaniel. 

"  With  regard  to  that  branch  in  New  Jersey,  descended  from 
Samuel,  son  of  the  original  Simon,  he  left  one  son,  Samuel  by 
name,  on  a  collateral  line  with  our  grandfather  Joseph.  This  Sam- 
uel had  three  sons,  Thomas,  Simon,  and  Samuel,  which  were  on  a 
collateral  line  with  your  grandfather  and  mine.  This  is  an  account 
of  all  the  male  issue  of  our  family,  from  the  original  Simon  down 
to  our  own  immediate  parent,  and  contains  a  series  of  about  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half.  We  have  kindred  of  the  same  name,  now  in  Eng- 
land, and  among  them  some  very  respectable ;  as  the  family  was  at 
the  time  of  the  emigration  of  our  ancestors.  A  brother  of  the 
original  Simon,  whose  name  was  Samuel,  was  Captain  of  the 
King's  Life-Guard,  and  much  in  his  favor.  With  regard  to  the 
succeeding  branches  of  our  family  in  this  country,  they  were  some- 
what numerous,  though  not  so  much  dispersed  as  some  other  fam- 
ilies." 

What  follows  below  consists  of  remarks  and  recollections  of  my 
own. 

Jabez,  with  this  mark  (f),  one  of  the  five  brothers,  sons  of  the 
second  Christopher,  must  have  been  the  father,  I  think,  of  a  distin- 
guished branch  of  Jive  brothers,  General  Jedediah  Huntington  of 
New  London,  General  Zechariah  of  Norwich,  General  Ebenezer, 
Colonel  Joshua,  and  Andrew,  of  Norwich.  Of  these,  Jedediah  was 
Surveyor  of  Customs  at  New  London;  his  sons,  Joshua  and 
Daniel,  were  distinguished  preachers.  Ebenezer  was  a  Represent- 
ative in  Congress.  Joshua  was  a  Sheriff  of  the  County ;  his  only 
child  married  Hon.  Frederick  Wolcott  of  Litchfield.  Jabez,  son  of 
Zechariah,  was  United  States  Senator.  One  of  the  daughters  of 
Jabez  t  married  Colonel  Chester  of  Wethersfield ;  another  mar- 
ried Rev.  Dr.  Strong  of  Norwich,  Ct. 

In  my  own  line  of  ancestors,  I  now  go  back  to  Samuel  (marked  +). 

He  was  the  father  of  Samuel,  my  grandfather,  Caleb,  Simon,  and 
John  ;  and  of  two  daughters,  one  the  mother  of  Dr.  John  Clark  of 
13 


98  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

Lebanon,  and  of  Colonel  James  Clark,  a  Revolutionary  hero ;  the 
other  the  mother  of  Simon  Clark  of  Exeter. 

The  children  of  my  grandfather  stand  thus : —  Samuel,  a  preacher ; 
m.  Cowdry,  had  one  son,  Samuel.  Rev.  Eliphalet  of  Killingworth ; 
m.  Elliot,  had  one  son,  Joseph.  Oliver  ;  m.  Lynde,  had  four  sons 
and  four  daughters.  William*,  my  father,  had  two  sons  and 
four  daughters.  Jonathan,  m.  Seldon,  had  two  sons  and  two 
daughters ;  in  old  age  m.  a  widow  of  Fairfield  County.  Josiah,  m. 
Gilbert,  a  second  wife,  had  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  Eleazar, 
m.  Widow  Pitkin,  had  one  son  and  one  daughter.  Three  daughters 
of  Samuel ;  one  m.  Rev.  J.  Porter  of  Bridgewater,  Mass. ;  one  m. 
Rev.  Eleazar  May  of  Haddam,  had  a  large  family ;  one  a  Harvey 
of  East  Haddam,  and  had  several  children. 

Mr.  Porter  had  two  sons,  ministers;  Mr.  May  one,  Hezekiah, 
and  three  other  sons,  John,  Eleazar,  and  Huntington, 

These  are  the  family  of  my  father,  William*  Huntington,  and 
my  mother,  his  wife,  Bethia  Throop :  Mary,  who  married  Rev. 
Walter  Lyon  of  Pomfret,  Ct.,  Abington  Society.  Their  only  child, 
Huntington  (who  m.  Maria  Warner),  now  deceased,  left  a  son, 
Samuel,  and  Eliza  Fitch,  who  m.  T.  P.  Huntington,  my  fifth  son. 

Wealthy,  m.  S.  Fitch,  and  had  four  children,  Wealthy,  Elizabeth, 
Thomas,  Marietta,  and  Eleazar.  William,  m.  Mary  Gray ;  had  five 
sons  and  three  daughters.  Rhoda,  m.  Rev.  William  Lyman,  D.  D. ; 
had  three  sons  and  five  daughters.  Eunice,  m.  Mason ;  had  six 
daughters  and  one  sbn,  John.  Dan,  who  married  Elizabeth  Whit- 
ing Phelps. 

The  ancestral  line  of  this,  my  wife,  E.  W.  P.  Huntington,  back 
through  the  Porters,  the  Pitkins,  the  Whitings,  to  the  Gregsons,  is 
very  direct.  We  have  in  our  house  a  pillow-case,  with  the  initials 
of  John  Whiting  and  Phebe  Gregson.  They  were  married  at  New 
Haven,  1673.  It  was  her  father,  Thomas  Gregson,  who  was  lost 
at  sea  in  1646  or  1647,  in  the  famous  ship  that  was  subsequently 
supposed  to  be  seen  in  New  Haven  harbor,  after  the  prayer-meeting 
held  in  behalf  of  the  crew. 

The  family  of  D.  Huntington  and  wife  are,  — 

I.  Charles  Phelps,  married  Helen  Sophia  Mills  (deceased),  and 
Ellen  Greenough.  Their  children  (only  those  that  survive  are 
included)  are  Helen  Frances,  Charles  Whiting,  Elijah  Hunt  Mill?, 
Mary  Elizabeth,  Edward  Stanton,  by  the  first  marriage ;  and  Henry 
Greenough  and  Laura  Curtis,  by  the  second. 


GENEALOGIES.  99 

II.  Elizabeth  Porter,  married  George  Fisher.     Their  children 
are  Elizabeth  Phelps  (married  John  Sessions,  and  has  three  little 
ones*),  Frederic  Pitkin  and  Francis  Porter,  twins  (the  latter  mar- 
ried Ann   Eliza  Crane),   George  Huntington,  Catherine  "Whiting, 
and  Edward  Thornton. 

III.  William  Pitkin,  married  Lucy  Edwards.     Their  children 
are  Lucy  Bethia,  "William  Edwards,  Helen  Maria,  Catherine  Fran- 
ces, Frederic  Sargent,  and  Flora. 

IV.  Bethia  Throop. 

V.  Edward  P.  (deceased),  married  Helen  M.  Williams. 

VI.  John  Whiting  (deceased). 

VII.  Theophilus  Parsons,  married   Eliza  F.  Lyon.     Their  chil- 
dren are  Walter  Elliot,  Maria  Whiting,  and  Edward  Dwight. 

VIII.  Theodore  Gregson,  married  Elizabeth  Sumner. 

IX.  Mary  Dwight,  deceased. 

X.  Catherine  Carey,  deceased. 

XI.  Frederic  Dan,  married  Hannah  Dane  Sargent,  and  their 
children  are  George  Putnam,  Arria  Sargent,  and  James  Otis  Sar- 
gent. 

THROOP. 

All  I  know  of  the  family  of  Throop  is  from  the  Regicide  for- 
ward, and  is  found  in  a  Genealogical  Tree,  which  I  have  had  by 
me  for  many  years.  At  the  root  of  that  tree  stand,  or  ought  to 
stand,  —  I.  Adrian  Scrope,  Regicide;  II.  William,  his  son;  III. 
William,  John,  and  Dan,  sons  of  William.  Dan  was  probably  the 
grandfather  of  my  mother,  Bethia  Throop. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  very  decided  partiality,  among  my 
progenitors  and  contemporaries,  for  this  monosyllablesthere  being 
no  less  than  five  or  six  Dans  in  a  direct  line  ;  probably  out  of  re- 
spect for  that  one  out  of  the  twelve  tribes  denominated  the  Lion's 
Whelp.  My  grandfather,  the  third  or  fourth  from  the  original  stock, 
was  from  Bristol,  R.  I.,  quite  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  He 
planted  down,  on  a  beautiful  eminence  in  Lebanon,  about  two  miles 
east  from  the  meeting-house,  where  there  was  enough  for  him  and 
three  sons,  all  of  them  having  large  families,  and  comfortable  domi- 
ciles, and  friendly,  happy  hearts.  The  number  of  slaves  he  brought 
with  him  from  Bristol  was  two  or  three  too  many.  In  my  child- 
hood and  youth  I  loved  dearly  to  visit  them,  and  to  have  their 


*  Elizabeth  Huntington,  Clara  Fisher,  and  Addie. 


100  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

visits  in  return,  at  my  own  happy  home.  (From  Bristol  also  came 
my  grandmother,  Susan  Carey.) 

In  their  character,  embracing  two  or  three  generations,  I  have 
found  the  Throops  ingenuous,  sincere,  and  open-hearted.  They 
took  everything  easily.  They  were  social,  gregarious,  fond  of  good 
humor  and  good  living.  In  Lebanon  they  were  agriculturists, 
very  much  a  neighborhood  by  themselves ;  industrious,  I  believe, 
but  never  in  a  hurry  about  their  business. 

In  Litchfield  I  found  a  branch  of  this  family  that  I  never  heard 
of  before,  in  a  style  of  life  rather  clannish.  They  lived  in  a  remote 
village,  on  a  fine  tract  of  land;  husbandmen,  but  notoriously 
hunters  ;  well  equipped,  of  course,  with  traps,  fowling-pieces,  of  all 
sorts,  with  appropriate  ammunition  for  the  game  afforded  by  the 
country,  which  at  that  time  was  not  in  great  abundance.  There 
was  no  lack  of  the  canine  species,  from  the  terrier  to  the  grey- 
hound. And  though  fond  of  the  chase,  and  probably  with  aristo- 
cratic blood  in  their  veins,  that  blood  did  not  show  itself  exactly  in 
the  style  of  the  Old  English  nobility. 

It  was  said  of  them,  that  they  thus  lived  together,  worked  and 
sported  together,  property  all  in  common,  to  the  third  and  fourth 
generation.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  see  a  dozen  or  more  of  them 
hoeing  a  small  patch  of  potatoes,  or  fencing  a  haystack.  If  any 
game  was  started,  be  it  what  it  might,  raccoon,  woodchuck,  squirrel, 
or  rabbit,  each  would  drop  his  tool,  man  and  boy,  join  in  the  chase, 
and  if  the  game  mounted,  they  were  all  ready  for  a  shot,  or  if  it 
betook  itself  to  mother  earth  for  a  shelter,  neither  hoe  nor  spade 
was  wanting  to  disinter  it ;  and  if  the  rest  of  the  day  was  necessary 
to  accomplish  the  enterprise,  no  time  was  lost,  especially  if  success 
might  be  the  result.  And  if,  with  such  habits  and  propensities, 
their  business  did  not  go  ahead,  and  the  community  was  not  affluent, 
they  were  easy  with  the  thought  that  they  enjoyed  what  was  given 
them  as  they  went  along,  and  that  they  had  not  the  overplus  of 
much  property  to  be  plagued  with.  And  I  must  say,  that,  when  I 
became  acquainted  with  the  establishment,  Fourierism  among  them 
had  rather  the  outward  appearance  of  dilapidation.  I  went  out, 
occasionally,  for  a  lecture  in  their  neighborhood ;  they  gave  me  a 
good  audience,  and  good  fare,  and  a  hearty  farewell. 

The  Throops,  in  their  persons,  so  far  as  I  recollect,  have  been  of 
a  manly  stature,  well  proportioned,  comely,  and  naturally  graceful 
in  their  bearing.  I  remember  among  them  an  uncommon  propor- 
tion of  handsome  women,  and  good  singers.  One  feature,  some- 


GENEALOGIES.  101 

what  striking,  was  a  large,  pleasant,  prominent  blue  eye.  An  anec- 
dote is  handed  down,  which  will  help  to  perpetuate  this  fact,  in 
regard  to  the  human  face  divine,  among  us,  as  it  will  also  a  pro- 
pensity to  a  sort  of  good-natured  humor.  A  certain  Dr.  Payne, 
who  was  also  a  hunter,  and  always  fond  of  a  joke,  and  whose  mother- 
wit  was  seasoned  with  a  jolly  stutter,  was  passing  the  door  of  my 
Uncle  Ben,  with  an  owl  in  his  hand,  steering  homeward.  "  Ay, 
Doctor,"  said  Uncle  Ben,  "  you  will  have  a  fine  dinner  of  it ;  what 
rare  bird  have  you  got  there  ?  "  "I  d-d-d-don't  know,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "  but  he's  got  a  t-t-t-Throop  eye."  With  this  pleasantry, 
however,  they  had  at  times  a  decided  sternness,  bordering  occasion- 
ally upon  obstinacy.  An  instance  of  this  I  recollect,  in  another 
good  uncle.  A  favorite  daughter  of  his,  a  young  widow,  and  a  fine 
woman,  was  addressed  on  the  subject  of  matrimony,  by  one  of  the 
first  clergymen  in  Connecticut,  who  was  some  fifteen  years  the 
elder,  and  who  had  already  buried  two  wives.  The  father  refused 
consent.  The  alliance  was  nevertheless  consummated.  But  the 
good  Doctor  was  never  permitted  to  accompany  his  wife  to  the 
dwelling  of  his  father-in-law. 

One  other  sample  of  this  trait,  one  generation  further  back. 
According  to  the  fashion  of  the  day,  when,  as  now,  it  is  said,  a 
common-sized  slip  in  the  meeting-house  would  just  conveniently  seat 
three  ladies,  in  full  dress,  my  mother,  when  a  girl,  had  equipped 
herself,  as  was  the  fashion  of  the  day,  with  hoops,  to  ride,  on  a 
pillion,  behind  her  father,  two  miles  to  meeting.  They  had  not 
proceeded  far  on  the  way,  when  the  old  gentleman  said  mildly,  but 
rather  decidedly,  to  his  daughter :  "  Bethia,  what  can  that  be, 
pounding  my  backbone,  there  ?  "  "  If  you  will  just  ride  back,  sir, 
I  will  make  an  alteration  in  my  dress,  so  that  I  shall  not  incom- 
mode you."  "  Very  well,"  he  said, "  I  will  do  it,  for  I  cannot  ride  so." 

"  You  may  lead  a  Throop,  with  a  twine  thread,  anywhere,"  was 
an  old  saw  in  Lebanon,  "  but  you  can  never  drive  one." 

PHELPS. 

Timothy  Phelps,  born  in  Windsor,  Ct.,  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Northampton,  1655.  Nathaniel,  his  son,  married  Grace 
Martin,  a  young  woman  recently  from  England,  a  woman  of  great 
resolution,  and  a  little  romantic  withal.  She  has  been  highly 
praised  by  her  descendants  as  having  a  strong  character.  She  died, 
a  widow,  August  7th,  1727.  Their  children  were  Nathaniel, 


102  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

Samuel,  Lydia  (married  Mark  Warner),  Grace  (married  Samuel 
Marshall),  Elizabeth  (married  John  Wright),  Timothy,  Abigail 
(married  John  Langdon),  Sarah  (married  David  Burt).  This  last, 
Nathaniel,  married  Abigail  Burnham  of  Connecticut,  who  died  in 
1724.  He  married  again  Catherine,  daughter  of  John  King  of 
Northampton,  and  widow  of  Mr.  Hickok  of  Durham.  By  the  first 
wife  he  had  Charles*,  Nathaniel,  Anna  (married  Elias  Lyman), 
Martin.  By  the  second,  Catherine  (married  Simon  Parsons), 
Lydia  (married  Ebenezer  Pomeroy),  John  (lived  in  Westfield), 
Mehitable  (died  young). 

This  third  Nathaniel  died  October  14th,  1747.  The  widow 
married  a  third  husband,  Gideon  Lyman. 

The  above  Charles*,  son  of  the  third  Nathaniel,  married  Dorothy 
Root,  daughter  of  Hezekiah  Root,  Northampton,  April  24th,  1740. 
He  removed  to  Hadley.  His  son  Charles*  was  born  in  North- 
ampton. He  had  other  children:  sons,  Solomon  and  Timothy; 
daughters,  Dorothy  (married  Warner),  Mary  (married  Cooley, 
afterwards  Dickinson),  Abigail  (m.  Williams  of  Wethersfield,  Vt.). 
Charles*  married  Elizabeth  Porter.  Their  children  were 'Charles 
Porter,  still  living  in  Hadley,  and  Elizabeth  Whiting,  who  married 
Dan  Huntington,  the  present  writer. 

PORTEE. 

The  Porters  have  been  a  numerous  family  in  Hadley,  for  more 
than  a  century  and  a  half.  They  were  among  the  first  proprietors 
of  the  town,  and  have,  from  the  beginning,  shared  largely  in  the 
honors  and  privileges  of  its  inhabitants.  They  have  furnished 
wives  for  a  number  of  such  men  as  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  Doctor 
Edwards,  Doctor  Emmons,  Doctor  Spring,  Doctor  Hopkins  of 
Hadley,  Doctor  Austin  of  Worcester,  and  several  others.  Captain 
Moses  Porter,  already  spoken  of,  the  ancestor  of  my  children, 
was  the  son  of  the  second  and  the  brother  of  the  third  Samuel 
Porter. 

WHITING. 

William  Whiting,  one  of  the'  first  settlers  of  Hartford,  was 
extensively  engaged  in  trade,  and  died  in  1649.  John  Whiting, 
one  of  the  sons  of  William,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1G53, 
and,  at  first,  was  minister  of  the  old  church  in  Hartford,  with  M  r. 
Haynes ;  and  afterwards,  the  minister  of  the  South  Parish  in 
Hartford.  He  died  in  1689.  His  first  wife  was  Sibyl  Collins, 


GENEALOGIES.  103 

of  Cambridge ;   his  second  wife  was  Phebe  Gregson,  from  East 
Haven. 

His  children's  names  were  Sibyl  Bryan,  William  Whiting,  Mar- 
tha Bryan,  Sarah  Bull,  Abigail  Russel,  Samuel  Whiting,  Elizabeth 
Whiting,  Joseph  Whiting,  John  Whiting.  I  believe  the  last  chil- 
dren only  were  by  Phebe  Gregson.  The  widow  Phebe,  I  suspect, 
married  Rev.  John  Russell  of  Hadley,  a  year  or  two  before  his 
death.  His  previous  wife  died  in  1G88,  and  he  died  in  1692,  and 
left  a  wife  whose  name  was  Phebe.  She  did  not  continue  in  Had- 
ley, nor  did  any  of  Mr.  Russell's  children.  He  concealed  and  en- 
tertained one  or  both  of  the  Regicides,  Goffe  and  Whalley. 

PlTKIN. 

William  Pitkin,  the  father  of  the  whole  of  the  name  in  this 
country,  a  distinguished  lawyer,  settled  in  Hartford  about  1665. 
He  married  Hannah  Goodwin,  and  left  four  sons,  Roger,  William, 
Nathaniel,  and  Ozias.  William,  son  of  the  above  William,  was 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  had  five  sons,  William, 
Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  Eliphalet,  George,  Timothy,  and  Ash- 
bel.  George  was  Clerk  of  Circuit  Court ;  Rev.  Timothy,  settled  at 
Farmington,  was  father  of  Honorable  Timothy  Pitkin. 

The  sister  of  the  first-mentioned  William  married  Simon  Wol- 
cott  of  Windsor,  father  of  three  Governors  of  that  name.  A  daugh- 
ter of  George  W.  married  a  Griswold,  from  whom  have  sprung 
three  Governors  of  the  same  name. 

Report  says  the  sister  of  the  first  William  P.,  living  in  London, 
repeatedly  solicited  her  brother  to  return  to  England.  Not  suc- 
ceeding, she  at  length  visited  him.  When  about  to  return,  a  device 
was  adopted  to  detain  her  if  possible.  Several  respectable  young 
men  of  Hartford  and  the  neighboring  towns  were  so  much  in  love 
with  the  young  lady,  that  they  determined  to  seek  the  honor  of  her 
hand  by  the  singular  process  of  casting  lots.  The  lot  fell  upon  Mr. 
Simon  Wolcott,  the  happy  man  above  mentioned. 

This  widow  Elizabeth  died  in  Hadley,  May  8th,  1753,  in  her  74th 
year.  It  was  a  daughter  of  hers  that  married  Moses  Porter,  about 
1746,  of  Hadley,  who  was  killed  at  what  was  called  the  morning 
scout,  between  Bennington  and  Saratoga,  in  the  old  French  war. 
The  only  child  of  Moses  Porter  and  his  wife  was  Elizabeth,  who 
married  Charles  Phelps ;  their  only  daughter,  Elizabeth  Whiting, 
was  the  wife  of  D.  Huntington,  as  before.  There  are  now  six  Eliz- 
abeths in  direct  succession. 


VII. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  LEBANON. 


"I  AM  COMB  UP  TO  THE  SIDES  OP  LEBANON,"  "  AVHICH  CAKKIES  ME  BACK 
TO   BYGONE   DATS." 


MY  DEAR  CHILDREN:  — 

Having  given  you  the  Genealogy  of  the  Huntingtons,  you  prob- 
ably would  like  to  be  informed  something  of  the  "  rock  whence  they 
were  hewn,  and  the  hole  of  the  pit  whence  they  were  digged,"  —  at 
least  a  part  of  them.  In  quoting  this  passage,  you  are  not  to  under- 
stand, for  a  moment,  that  I  am  speaking  at  random,  or  that  I  mean 
to  speak  at  all  to  the  disparagement  either  of  the  town  or  its  inhab- 
itants. There  is  not,  probably,  a  finer  inland  farming  territory  in 
the  same  State,  nor,  so  far  as  my  youthful  reminiscences  extend, 
any  place  more  distinguished  by  a  moral  and  enlightened  population, 
than  the  good  old  town  of  Lebanon,  lying  on  the  great  road  from 
New  London  to  Hartford,  through  Norwich,  Franklin,  Columbia, 
Andover,  and  Bolton  ;  about  twenty  miles  from  the  Sound,  and  on 
the  route  of  the  first  stage-coach  ever  driven  in  New  England. 
The  town  street  is  the  broadest  I  ever  saw  or  heard  of,  three  or 
four  miles  in  length,  with  gentle  elevations  and  depressions,  north 
and  south,  sloping  a  little  east  and  west,  with  neat  door-yard  fences, 
handsome  domiciles  and  home-lots,  on  both  sides,  under  good  im- 
provement for  agriculture  and  horticulture,  with  beautiful  streams 
at  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  right  and  left.  And  yet  the  same  street, 
at  the  time  I  speak  of,  excepting  a  clearage  here  and  there  for  a 
church,  a  school-house,  or  parade-ground,  is  deformed  with  immense 
craggy  rocks,  clay-pits,  sluggish  streams,  and  frog-ponds,  and  shape- 
less, tottering  stone-walls,  with  crooks  and  angles  innumerable  every 
few  rods,  which  rarely  fail  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  traveller  un- 
pleasantly. 


REMINISCENCES    OF    LEBANON.  105 

Now,  if  our  ancestors,  under  the  full  impression  that  nothing  was 
made  in  vain,  had  gone  to  work  in  earnest,  with  a  few  barrels  of 
powder,  with  their  drills  and  crow-bars,  and  sledges  and  spades, 
with  skilful  hands  to  manage  them,  all  these  rocks  in  a  short  time 
might  have  been  made  to  hide  their  heads  in  shame ;  quagmires 
might  have  been  reduced  to  regular  pools,  with  straight,  square- 
faced,  four-feet  double  walls,  and  Macadamized  roads,  on  both 
sides  of  the  street,  the  whole  distance;  and  thus  acres,  nobody 
knows  how  many,  redeemed  from  waste  to  a  tasteful  and  well- 
husbanded  common.  Recently,  this  has  been  undertaken. 

Formerly  flocks  of  sheep,  consisting  of  several  hundreds,  were 
pastured  during  the  summer  on  the  common,  in  different  parts  of 
the  town.  A  shepherd,  with  his  little  dog  and  his  crook,  had  the 
entire  command  of  them  during  the  day ;  and  they,  from  one  emi- 
nence to  another,  as  far  as  they  could  hear  his  thundering  voice,  for 
nearly  a  mile,  would  obey  orders  ;  opening  to  the  right  and  left,  and 
wheeling  instantly,  like  a  well-ordered  regiment.  During  the  night 
they  were  folded  on  a  fallow  lot  of  plowed  ground,  to  prepare  it  for 
a  crop  of  wheat,  or  any  other  crop,  the  ensuing  season.  The  privi- 
lege of  thus  folding  his  flock  was  sold,  every  now  and  then,  to  the 
highest  bid ;  the  avails  were  the  shepherd's  salary.  From  what  he 
received  from  the  husbandmen  in  this  way  he  had  a  good  living. 

The  produce  of  large  and  well-managed  dairies  has  been,  I  be- 
lieve, more  the  staple  of  Lebanon,  for  years,  than  any  other.  With 
thirty  or  forty  cows,  it  has  been  a  business  yielding  a  sure  and 
handsome  profit  to  the  landholder. 

Thus  independent,  the  people  have  been  able  to  furnish  a  due  pro- 
portion of  educated,  professional  men,  some  of  whom  have  been  emi- 
nent. As  far  back  as  I  can  remember,  there  have  been  in  the  town 
four  religious  societies,  each  of  which  had  its  territorial  parish  lim- 
its, and  each  parish  its  pastor,  —  all  men  eminent  in  their  day.  In 
the  old  parish  was  Dr.  Solomon  Williams ;  Mr.  Wells,  I  believe,  was 
the  first  minister.  In  Goshen,  three  miles  west,  was  Mr.  Elliot,  if 
not  a  son,  a  descendant,  of  the  Apostle  so  called,  and  an  ancestor  of 
some  of  your  number,  one  of  whom,  Walter  Elliot  Huntington,  son 
of  Theophilus  P.,  bears  up  his  name.  In  Exeter,  three  miles  north 
of  Goshen,  was  Mr.  Gurley,  whose  son,  a  Chaplain  in  Congress,  has 
distinguished  himself  as  an  active  member  of  the  Colonization 
Society.  In  Lebanon  Crank,  now  Columbia,  four  or  five  miles 
northeast,  Dr.  Wheelock,  President  and  the  founder  of  Dartmouth 

14 


106  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

College.  These  gentlemen,  and  their  successors  to  the  present  time, 
including  those  educated  for  the  ministry  in  Lebanon,  would  amount 
to  between  thirty  and  forty ;  beginning  at  the  south  end  of  the 
town,  five  for  the  name  of  Huntington,  one  Metcalf,  three  Wil- 
liamses,  two  Elys,  two  Robinsons,  six  Lymans,  one  Rockwell,  two 
Stones,  one  Waterman,  one  Hinckley,  two  Gurleys,  one  Gillet,  one 
Pineo,  one  Bartlett,  two  Brockways,  one  Fowler,  one  Caulkins,  one 
Smalley,  and  one  Dutton. 

Among  our  distinguished  civilians,  we  may  mention  the  names  of 
the  three  Trumbulls,  the  father,  the  son,  and  the  grandson,  Govern- 
ors of  the  State ;  Hon.  William  Williams,  who  signed  the  Act  of 
Independence ;  jurists  and  statesmen,  Swift,  Mason,  Tisdale,  Dut- 
ton, Metcalfs,  Dewey,  and  Wattles ;  and  among  the  rest,  though  last 
not  least,  Lebanon  has  had  her  poets,  and  painters,  and  teachers. 

In  the  corner  of  two  or  three  neighboring  towns,  there  was  for- 
merly a  constellation  of  worthies,  somewhat  remarkable.  If  you 
please,  suppose  a  circle,  the  diameter  of  which  is  six  miles,  to  cover 
an  adjacent  territory  taken  from  the  three  towns  of  Norwich, 
Franklin,  and  Lebanon,  or  rather  make  the  circle  into  an  ellipse ; 
the  circumference  might  be  found  to  include,  if  not  the  birthplace, 
the  residence  of  several  such  men  as  the  two  Wheelocks,  D.  D., 
Azel  Backus,  D.  D.,  and  Eliphalet  Nott,  D.  D.,  Presidents  of  Col- 
leges ;  Charles  Backus,  D.  D.,  and  Joseph  Lathrop,  D.  D.,  chosen 
Professors  of  Divinity,  Yale  College ;  and  Mr.  Kirkland,  mission- 
ary to  the  Oneidas. 

We  will  here  stop  a  moment  at  the  grave  of  Rev.  James  Fitch, 
whose  name  has  been  mentioned  as  the  venerable  pastor  of  the 
flock  who  came  among  the  first  settlers  of  Norwich,  a  colony  from 
Saybrook,  and  who  died  in  Lebanon,  where  he  spent  the  latter  part 
of  a  long  life.  As  a  model  of  a  Right  Reverend  of  the  day,  as 
well  as  a  specimen  of  the  good  literature  of  our  fathers,  I  here 
transcribe  an  inscription  on  his  monument :  — 

"  In  hoc  sepulchro,  depositor  sunt  reliquiae  viri,  vere  reverendi, 
D.  Jacobi  Fitch ;  natus  fuit  apud  Bocking,  in  comitatu  Essexiae,  in 
Anglia:  anno  Domini,  1622,  Decem.  24  :  qui  postquam  linguis  li- 
teratis  optime  instructus  fuisset  in  Nov.  Ang.  venit,  JEtate  1 6 :  et 
deinde,  vitam  degit,  Hartfordife,  per  septennium,  sub  instructione 
virorum  celeberrimorum,  D.  Hooker,  et  D.  Stone.  Postea,  munere 
pastorali  functus  est,  apud  Saybrook,  per  annos  14.  Hinc,  cum 
ecclesiae  majori  parte  Norvicum  migravit:  et  ibi,  ceteros  vitae 


REMINISCENCES    OF    LEBANON.  107 

annos  transegit,  in  opere  evangelico.  In  senectute,  vero  praj 
corporis  infirmitate,  necessarie  cessavit  ab  opero  publico ;  tan- 
demque,  recessit  liberis,  apud  Lebanon,  ubi,  semianno  fere  exacto, 
obdormivit  in  Jesu,  anno  1702 :  Novemb.  18,  uEtate  80. 

"  Vir,  ingenii  acumene,  pondere  judicii,  prudentia,  charitate,  sanc- 
tis  laboribus,  et  omni  modo  vitas  sanctitate,  peretia  quoque  et  vi  con- 
cionandi,  nulli  secundus." 

Those  of  the  name  of  Fitch  in  Windham,  Lebanon,  Canterbury, 
Preston,  Norwich,  Montville,  &c.,  are  his  descendants.  Those  in  the 
western  part  of  Connecticut  are  descended  from  his  brother  Thomas, 
who  settled  in  Norwalk.  The  venerable  subject  of  the  above 
inscription  had  nine  sons  and  five  daughters.  A  descendant  of  his, 
Simon,  portrait-painter,  married  Wealthy  Huntington,  my  sister. 
He  was  employed  by  a  class  in  Yale  College  to  take  the  portrait  of 
President  Dwight,  in  which  he  succeeded  well  in  the  main ;  but  in 
finishing  one  of  the  hands,  he  could  not  suit  himself;  the  more  he 
worked  upon  it,  the  less  was  he  satisfied,  till,  in  a  state  of  hopeless 
frenzy,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and,  without  being  blamed  by  any  one, 
or  mentioning  his  trouble  to  others,  he  set  his  face  homeward. 
Coming  to  Durham  woods,  he  heard  some  one  trying  his  skill  upon 
a  tin  trumpet.  Supposing  it  was  intended  for  him,  he  leaped  a 
fence  into  the  forest,  where  he  wandered  about  till  morning,  and 
the  next  day  made  his  way  safely  home,  but  could  never  be  per- 
suaded to  finish  the  portrait,  or  meddle  in  any  way  with  his  palette 
and  brush.  It  must  have  been  a  temporary  derangement,  the 
effect  of  a  keen  sensibility,  peculiar  to  artistic  genius. 

Fitch  and  Trumbull,  in  their  boyhood  contemporaries  at  the 
Brick  School,  it  was  said  were  at  that  time  nearly  upon  a  par,  as 
competitors  in  the  occasional  trials  of  their  skill,  in  the  opinion  of 
good  judges ;  and  at  times  Trumbull  was  known  to  have  the  gen- 
erosity to  ascribe  the  palm  to  his  rival.  But  by  improving  the 
superior  advantages  which  he  afterwards  enjoyed,  Trumbull  rose  to 
eminence  not  to  be  contested.  The  portrait  was  hung  up,  among 
others,  in  the  College  Library,  and  was  thought  well  of.  I  remem- 
ber once  standing  before  it,  in  company  with  Dr.  Dwight.  He 
spoke  of  the  defect  in  the  hand  as  hardly  worth  noticing,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  otherwise  satisfied  with  the  performance. 

There  were  others  that  distinguished  themselves  in  Lebanon,  both 
as  artisans  and  artists.  There  were  also  poets  among  them.  I 
have  before  me  a  Poem,  entitled  "  The  Present  State  of  Literature," 


108  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

delivered  at  New  Haven,  at  the  public  Commencement  of  Yale 
College,  September  10th,  1800,  by  Warren  Button  (the  motto, 
Quid  utile,  quid  noil),  of  which  I  am  proud,  as  coming  from  an  old 
playfellow. 

An  impromptu,  from  one  whose  gallantry  in  assisting  a  couple  of 
ladies,  who  had  trouble  with  their  horse,  had  exposed  him  to  some 
danger  and  dirt,  ran  thus  :  — 

"  Indeed,  't  was  neatly  done 
For  me  t'  attempt  to  guide  the  chariot  of  the  sun, 
And  then  to  fall,  like  Phaeton." 

A  lady,  mourning  the  loss  of  her  first-born,  received  from  her 
sister  in  Lebanon  the  following  lines  :  — 

"  The  little  babe  stepped  into  life, 

Saw  nothing  to  approve ; 
As  if  disgusted,  turned  away, 
And  fled  to  realms  above." 

I  have  often  thought  of  the  variety  of  distinguished  names,  both 
from  our  own  and  our  father-land,  that,  within  my  recollection, 
have  somehow  been  congregated  within  my  native  town.  Some  of 
them  I  have  mentioned.  Beginning  at  the  South,  I  will  mention  a 
few  others,  in  the  different  groups,  as  we  go  northward,  with  such 
incidents  and  anecdotes  as  may  occur,  illustrative  of  localities  and 
the  state  of  society.  A  first  group  may  include  the  Masons,  the 
Fitches,  the  "Watermans,  the  Lathrops,  the  Hydes,  the  Littles,  the 
Throops,  the  Averys,  the  Paynes,  the  Sweets,  the  Mannings. 

The  Sweets  have  been  eminent  as  native  surgeons,  known  ex- 
tensively from  one  generation  to  another.  It  is  a  common  amuse- 
ment for  the  boys  of  this  family  to  lay  pigs  and  fowls  prostrate,  by 
dislocating  their  bones,  and  then,  by  slipping  into  their  places  the 
joints,  put  them  upon  their  legs  again,  apparently  with  the  utmost 
ease. 

Another  group,  as  we  advance  northward,  may  consist  of  our  own 
family,  the  Huntingtons,  a  Bacon,  a  Brewster,  a  Davenport,  an  Abel, 
the  Metcalfs,  our  nearest  neighbors.  My  grandfather,  Deacon  Sam- 
uel Huntington,  is  the  oldest  I  remember  among  them.  He  retained 
great  vigor  to  advanced  life ;  as  did  the  wife  of  his  youth,  Hannah 
Metcalf.  They  had  among  their  descendants  ministers,  ministers' 
wives,  the  children  of  the  latter,  and  their  partners,  between  thirty 
and  forty. 


REMINISCENCES    OF    LEBANON.  109 

In  the  genealogical  list  I  have  said  about  all  I  intended  to  say  of 
our  own  name.  There  is  one  of  the  sons  of  my  grandfather,  how- 
ever, not  to  be  overlooked.  Though  an  uneducated,  unpretending 
man,  my  Uncle  Oliver  was  sui  generis.  In  the  humble  sphere 
in  which  he  moved,  he  would  not  be  noticed  for  anything  peculiar 
other  than  a  cheerful  readiness  to  every  good  work.  It  was  known 
to  a  few  that  his  thoughts  were  much  upon  the  great  concerns  of  an 
eventful  day  to  his  country  ;  some  would  say,  upon  subjects  far  be- 
yond his  grasp. 

The  time  had  come  for  the  United  States  to  form  a  Constitution 
of  government.  He  had  one  in  readiness,  of  his  own  framing, 
founded  upon  the  Rock,  "  When  the  righteous  are  in  authority,  the 
people  rejoice,"  and  "  They  shall  prosper  that  love  thee,"  i.  e.  Zion, 
the  Church.  Let  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  for  their  rulers,  be 
given  for  professors  of  religion,  and  all  the  interests  of  society  are 
as  safe  as  they  can  be  in  this  imperfect  state.  This  was  the  theory. 
Whether  the  good  uncle  lived  to  realize  the  boon  to  his  satisfac- 
tion, is  more  than  I  can  say.  I  used  to  transcribe  his  papers,  but 
was  too  young  to  know  much  of  their  purport.  If  he  did  not  ac- 
complish the  great  object  of  his  wishes,  it  was  not  because  his 
papers  were  not  submitted  to  individuals  and  public  bodies  of  the 
first  order. 

Mr.  Brewster,*  a  neighbor  of  my  father,  was  famous  for  puzzling 
college  boys  with  knotty  questions,  when  they  were  at  home,  during 
their  vacations.  His  name  was  Comfort,  but  that  keen  black  eye  of 
his,  kindled  by  a  self-complacent  smile  of  victory,  was  anything  but 
Comfort  to  us,  when  he  got  a  theorem  or  conundrum  too  hard  for  us. 

The  Metcalfs,  another  name  in  our  group,  were  a  stalwart  race, 
of  whom  the  neighbors  used  to  tell  an  anecdote,  illustrative  of  their 
intrepidity  as  well  as  their  size.  A  wild  animal  had  broken  loose 
from  the  stall,  and  was  pursued  by  his  owners,  at  full  speed,  on 
horseback,  who,  meeting  a  man  on  foot,  quite  unmoved  in  his  man- 
ner, asked  him  earnestly,  if  he  had  met  a  wild  bull  on  the  road.  "  A 
wild  bull  ?  "  he  replied ;  "  no,  I  met  a  calf,  a  little  back."  They 
rushed  on,  and  soon  overtook  the  animal,  in  the  hands  of  another 
man,  who,  holding  him  by  his  horns,  had  turned  his  face  homeward. 

They  both  earned  a  family  name,  Metcalf  and  Turnbidl;  the 
latter  is  generally  written  Trumbull.  The  two  families,  Met- 

*  A  descendant  of  the  Mayflower  Puritan,  Elder  Brewster. 


110  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

calf  and  Trumbull,  have  been  within  a  mile  of  each  other  in 
Lebanon  for  more  than  a  century.  A  hundred  years  ago,  Mar- 
chant  Metcalf,  whose  wife  was  one  of  the  sixty  feet  of  daughters 
of  Rev.  Timothy  Edwards,  East  Windsor,  was  one  of  the  nobility 
of  the  town.  There  were  two  "  Merchant  Princes,"  by  the  name 
of  Little  ;  William,  of  Boston,  and  Jonathan,  of  New  York,  whose 
mother  was  one  of  the  Metcalfs,  a  century  since  Lebanon  men. 
Within  two  years,  I  met  with  a  branch  of  this  family  in  Western 
New  York,  and  heard  of  another  in  Montpelier,  Vermont,  and 
others  in  other  places,  all  distinguished  for  longevity  and  longitude  ; 
for  their  symmetry  and  bearing ;  for  their  physiognomy  and  idiosyn- 
crasy of  character. 

The  origin  of  names  brings  to  my  mind  an  anecdote. 

President  Dwight  and  Judge  Trumbull  were  fellow-Tutors  in 
Yale  College.  Both,  having  ready  wit  at  their  command,  sometimes 
amused  themselves  with  trying  it.  They  once  hit  upon  their  own 
names,  as  the  subject.  Dwight  quoted  to  Trumbull  the  origin  of  his 
name,  as  above  related.  In  return,  Trumbull  told  Dwight  that  the 
word  "WIT  was  an  abbreviation  of  Wight,  and  that  the  D  was  an 
abbreviation  of  De,  negative,  often  standing  before  another  word, 
denoting  destitution,  so  that  D-wight  meant  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  want  of  wit. 

This  takes  me  back  again  to  my  own  name.  Some  of  our  friends 
in  the  group  now  before  us  would  have  it  that  we  were  too  proud 
of  our  name  ;  it  was  too  long :  and,  to  administer  salutary  pruning 
in  pronouncing  it  as  it  ought  to  be,  they  would  leave  out  one  of  the 
last  syllables,  some  calling  it  Hunton  and  some  Hunting.  Shall  I 
tell  you  how  this  disjointed  trisyllable  was  so  put  together,  as  to 
hold  hitherto  tolerably  well  ? 

A  young  lady,  addressed  by  one  of  the  name  not  long  before  she 
expected  to  exchange  hers  for  his,  had  put  into  her  hands  by  Fa- 
ther Cleveland,  one  of  our  Home  Missionaries,  as  if  in  her  own 
language,  the  following  stanza :  — 

"  If  hunting  were  now  all  the  ton, 

I  never  would  join  in  the  chase  ; 
But  putting  both  words  into  one, 
Be  sure,  it  would  alter  the  case." 

What  the  case  proved  to  be  was  made  known  soon  after  ;  and  how 
far  she  approved  the  exchange  was  shown,  asking  pardon  for  this 
self-glorification  about  it,  in  the  following  acrostic:  — 


REMINISCENCES    OF    LEBANON.  Ill 

"  H  ave  I  a  husband,  then,  whose  generous  mind 
U  nites  the  will  and  power  to  teach  mankind, — 
N  ot  slack  to  warn,  nor  willing  to  offend, 
T  o  serve  his  God  his  highest  aim  and  end  ? 
I  n  such  a  friend  I  can  and  will  rejoice, 
N  or  fail  to  raise  to  heaven  my  thankful  voice. 
G  rant  me,  kind  Father,  while  I  dwell  below, 
T  his  friend  to  guide  me  all  my  journey  through ! 
O  let  us  live  as  one,  in  tender  love, 
N  or  be  disjoined  at  last,  but  joined  to  Thee  above! " 

If  the  authoress  of  the  above  is  not  a  native  of  Lebanon,  her 
husband  is,  and  he  will  remember  with  gratitude  on  this,  his  eighty- 
fourth  birthday,  her  kindness  in  so  putting  together  the  two  words 
as  to  restore  the  abused  name  to  its  pristine  dignity. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  another  group  of  names,  in  about  the 
same  latitude  with  the  former,  comprising  the  names  of  "West, 
Pettes,  Loomis,  Bissel,  Buel,  Brown,  Stone,  Ripley,  Elliot,  Thomas, 
Palmer,  Huntington ;  among  whom  were  divines  and  civilians  of 
the  first  order.  Esquire  West  was,  for  many  years,  more  the  stated 
Representative  of  the  town  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State, 
I  should  think,  than  any  other  man,  and  his  opinions,  expressed 
with  an  originality  and  independence  and  piquancy  peculiar  to 
himself,  were  universally  respected  and  remembered.  Highly  in- 
censed by  some  resolution  adopted  by  the  Assembly  which,  with  all 
his  force,  he  had  opposed  in  vain,  he  said  that  that  body  were  "  not 
fit  to  carry  offal  to  a  bear."  Upon  being  called  upon  to  make  an 
acknowledgment' for  the  indignity  shown  to  the  House,  he  readily 
confessed  he  was  wrong  ;  he  had  spoken  hastily ;  he  had  said  that 
the  House  were  not  fit  to  carry  offal  meat  to  a  bear ;  he  would  take 
it  back :  they  were  just  fit  for  it.  The  result  I  have  forgotten. 

We  will  move  on  to  the  centre  of  the  town.  The  centre  was 
then  two  or  three  miles  only  from  the  southern  extremity,  but  four  or 
five  from  the  northern.  It  was  the  centre,  not  of  the  town,  but  the 
aristocracy,  so  denominated.  It  was  quite  a  pleasant  elevation,  at 
the  crossing  of  two  great  roads,  east  and  west,  north  and  south.  The 
Broad  Street  was  very  much  cleared  of  rocks,  and  the  rough  places 
were  made  smooth,  for  one  or  two  hundred  rods.  Here  stood  the 
meeting-house,  the  largest  I  ever  saw,  filled  every  Sabbath  to  over- 
flowing ;  with  a  porch  at  each  end,  the  one  at  the  east  surrounded 
by  a  pavement,  sufficiently  elevated  on  three  sides  for  a  horse-block, 


112  NOTES   TO    SERMONS. 

very  convenient  for  the  multitude  that  rode  on  pillions,  the  day 
for  carriages  not  having  yet  arrived.  It  was  a  sight  worth  seeing, 
at  the  close  of  the  services,  such  an  assembly  mounted  in  pairs, 
moving  off  the  green  in  battalions  in  different  directions  home- 
wards, with  half  as  many  colts,  perhaps,  following  and  neigh- 
ing for  their  dams,  and  the  dams  answering  in  loftier  tones. 
Among  them,  pre-eminent,  I  remember,  usually  to  be  seen  riding 
to  the  east,  was  a  very  large  man,  Mr.  Sprague,  well  dressed  and 
well  mounted,  on  a  stately  sorrel  horse,  white  mane  and  tail  very 
long.  General  Washington  himself  could  hardly  have  been  more 
conspicuous,  at  the  head  of  his  army.  Assembling  from  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  town,  it  was  pleasant,  when  the  weather  was  favor- 
able, for  fellow-worshippers  to  meet  at  an  early  hour,  to  have  a 
friendly  greeting,  in  front  of  the  church,  thus  to  enjoy  a  season, 
before  the  commencement  of  the  services,  for  the  interchange  of 
thoughts  suitable  to  the  occasion,  upon  the  events  of  the  day.  Thus 
the  Sabbath  was  to  them  a  high  day,  the  good  influences  of  which 
were  felt  through  the  week. 

The  publishment  for  marriage  in  old  times  was  announced  at  the 
close  of  the  afternoon  services  by  the  town  clerk,  with  an  OYES  ! 
twice  repeated,  at  the  top  of  a  stentorian  vociferation,  "  Oyes ! 
Oyes ! "  which  attracted  close  attention,  and  seemed  to  say  to  all 
concerned,  Eemember  the  Law  as  well  as  the  Gospel.  All  this 
might  be  very  excusable,  if  he  would  altogether  omit  an  offensive 
yawning  with  a  hi  ho  hum,  in  which  he  often  indulged  toward  the 
close  of  the  sermon,  especially  if  it  were  a  long  one,  hereby  intend- 
ing to  hint  to  the  speaker,  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  him  to 
come  to  a  close.  In  the  gallery,  the  wall-pew  in  front  of  the  pulpit, 
which  was  very  large,  was  reserved  for  newly  married  couples,  and 
strangers,  who,  coming  in,  generally,  after  the  assembly  was  seated, 
and  with  considerable  ceremony  and  thumping  in  their  steps,  at- 
tracted great  attention.  In  other  parts  of  the  gallery,  males  and 
females  had  their  appropriate  seats.  In  this,  the  high  pew,  they 
sat  down  together,  in  full  dress,  without  distinction  of  sex.  For 
years,  I  suppose  they  enjoyed,  as  a  religious  society  of  fellow-wor- 
shippers, unusual  harmony  and  happiness.  It  was  a  good,  however, 
not  to  be  enjoyed  without  interruption.  Independence  was  declared 
in  the  country,  and  with  it  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  centrality  began 
to  develop,  in  the  different  departments  of  life.  The  members  of 
the  Old  Parish  at  the  north  had  to  travel  twice  as  far  to  the  place 


REMINISCENCES    OF    LEBANON.  113 

of  worship  as  those  at  the  south.     They  were  dissatisfied  and  re- 
monstrated, but  in  vain. 

At  a  time  appointed,  a  sufficient  number  were  on  the  ground, 
with  their  implements  of  destruction,  and  the  good  old  sanctuary, 
the  sanctum  sanctorum  of  hundreds,  if  not  of  thousands,  was  de- 
molished in  a  day.  Another,  of  brick,  soon  went  up  in  its  place ; 
another  of  wood^  a  mile  above  it;  another,  a  mile  farther  north. 
There  they  stand  to  the  present  day ;  three  meeting-houses,  and 
three  denominations,  within  the  sound  of  each  other's  bells,  and 
whether  with  the  increase  or  the  lack  of  Christian  brotherhood 
will  be  better  known  at  another  day.  It  may  be  an  event  yet  to 
be  realized,  that  "  the  glory  of  the  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than 
that  of  the  former " ;  though  some  years  after,  happening  to  be 
there  on  the  Sabbath  with  my  wife,  and  being  invited  by  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Society,  in  the  absence  of  their  pastor,  to  take  the 
pulpit,  an  event  occurred  that  led  me  in  some  measure  to  doubt  it. 
My  wife  and  I  were  met,  a  few  rods  from  the  door  of  the  church,  by 
an  old  acquaintance,  who  asked  me,  "  Are  you  going  to  preach  to- 
day, Mr.  Huntington  ?  "  I  replied,  I  had  come  there  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  replied,  he  could  not  hear  me,  and  gave  as  a  reason,  that 
he  and  I  did  not  worship  the  same  God;  referring  to  a  change  of 
opinion  in  the  preacher  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  I  waited, 
in  a  pew,  till  the  assembly  were  generally  seated,  and  then  told  the 
assembly  why  I  had  not  taken  the  desk.  It  brought  on  a  few  re- 
marks both  pro  and  con.  Reverend  John  Robinson,  then  a  dis- 
missed minister,  and  an  inhabitant  of  the  town  and  a  member  of  the 
Society,  said :  "  Mr.  Huntington,  I  hope  you  will  pay  no  attention  to 
what  is  said  by  this  old  Jones  (the  man  who  stopped  me  at  the 
door) ;  he  does  not  belong  here,  but,  knowing  that  you  were  to  be 
here,  came  all  the  way  over  from  Exeter,  on  foot,  on  purpose  to 
make  this  mischief." 

Finding  the  debate  too  warm  for  our  edification,  my  wife  and  I 
left  the  house,  and  were  followed  by  a  respectable  portion  of  the 
congregation.  They  wished  me  to  take  the  lead  in  worship,  in  the 
brick  school-house  hard  by ;  which,  not  having  come  there  to  set 
up  altar  against  altar,  I  declined.  I  afterwards  received  a  letter 
containing  a  vote  of  the  parish,  an  apology  for  the  treatment  I  en- 
countered. 

But  by  the  Vandalism  shown,  in  the  demolition  of  that  vener- 
able temple,  the  glory  seemed  gradually  departing.  That  old 

15 


114  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

saying,  mentioned  of  Lebanon  children,  probably  fabulous,  who,  as 
you  met  them  in  the  street,  if  asked,  "  Who  made  you  ?  "  replied, 
"  Governor  Trumbull,"  and  who,  if  asked,  "Who  redeemed  you?" 
as  readily  replied,  "  Doctor  Williams,"  —  was  gradually  growing 
out  of  date,  and  a  good  many  better  things  with  it. 

There  was  no  lack  of  stumbling-blocks,  as  there  was  found  occa- 
sion for  the  halting  of  a  frail  brother  or  sister.  There  was  an  in- 
stance, "  in  high  life,"  of  a  match  instead  of  avowed  marriage, 
which  was  much  a  matter  of  speculation  among  us,  and  which,  for 
a  long  time,  had  no  very  satisfactory  explanation,  if  it  ever  had. 

In  another  odd  movement  of  church  discipline,  what  the  offence 
was  I  am  not  able  to  say.  There  was  a  person  denied  communion 
at  the  Lord's  table,  who  brought  the  elements  of  the  Supper  with 
him,  and  during  the  communion  partook  by  himself.  This  he  did 
habitually,  for  some  time.  In  such  a  state  of  society,  what  could 
be  the  benefit  of  ordinances  ?  A  Diotrephes,  that  loveth  to  have 
the  pre-eminence  in  the  church,  and  the  demagogue  out  of  it,  are 
apt  to  be  the  foremost  among  mischief-makers.  For  a  time  there 
were  frequent  occurrences  of  this  kind,  that  showed  the  importance 
of  able  counsellors,  and  good  examples,  not  now  to  be  found,  as 
formerly.  Their  loss  was  sensibly  felt.  Still  there  were  those 
coming  forward  to  fill  the  places  their  fathers  had  left,  that  have 
continued  to  sustain  in  this,  among  others  of  our  country  towns,  a 
high  degree  of  respectability. 

The  name  of  Bacon  occurs,  and  reminds  me  of  a  classmate  at  Yale, 
who  has  been  eminent  hi  public  life,  as  a  jurist  and  member  of  Con- 
gress ;  who,  on  other  occasions,  as  orator  and  poet,  has  stood  among 
the  foremost,  and  whom,  within  a  year,  I  have  seen,  at  his  home  in 
Utica,  by  the  side  of  one  of  the  loveliest  of  her  sex ;  whom  I  had 
seen,  not  far  from  sixty  years  ago,  with  her  hand  in  his  as  the  wife 
of  his  youth,  and  for  whom  I  then  had  the  honor  to  administer  the 
nuptial  vow.  And  this  brings  to  my  mind  another  classmate  and 
chum,  a  Lebanon  man  by  descent,  and  grandson  to  the  Eight  Rev- 
erend Solomon  Williams,  D.  D.,  who  baptized  me.  There  was 
another  in  the  group.  The  name  was  not  as  illustrious  as  some  of 
the  others  ;  the  title  attached  to  it  was  more  so.  Lebanon  not  only 
had  her  three  Governors,  five  or  six  doctors  of  divinity,  judges,  and 
the  like  ;  she  had  her  King  Palmer,  as  well  known  by  his  title  and 
his  person,  and  his  character,  as  most  men.  As  far  back  as  I  can 
recollect,  he  was  far  advanced  in  life  ;  seldom  seen  from  home  ; 


REMINISCENCES    OF    LEBANON.  115 

stately  in  his  appearance ;  staid  and  precise  in  his  demeanor ;  said 
but  little,  but  what  he  did  say  was  law.  His  son  John,  a  bachelor, 
I  know  more  about.  He  had  great  literary  pride,  which  showed 
itself  in  definitions.  He  made  the  dictionary  his  great  study.  He 
had  a  small  one  of  his  own,  which  he  carried  in  his  pocket,  always 
to  be  appealed  to  in  any  emergency.  A  neighbor  had  Old  Bailey, 
which  in  difficult  cases  he  consulted  as  his  oracle.  Thus  fortified, 
he  prided  himself  in  telling  the  boys,  if  they  had  hard  words,  to 
bring  them  to  him.  It  became  fine  fun  for  the  rogues,  thus  to  tease 
"  Uncle  John."  One  came  in  early  in  the  morning  when  Uncle 
John  was  making  his  fire,  asking  him  what  he  should  do.  "  Why, 
what 's  the  matter  ?  "  "  O,  I  have  had  such  an  Incubus  all  night,.  I 
could  not  sleep  a  wink."  Telling  his  neighbor  about  it,  afterwards, 
Uncle  John  said,  "I  made  him  no  answer.  I  kept  on  making 
my  fire.  He  had  it  over  again,  and  asked  me  if  I  ever  had  that 
complaint.  I  said  nothing.  '  Well,'  said  he, '  I  am  going  to  such  a 
place,  and  on  my  return  I  will  call,  and  you  must  tell  me  what  to 
do.'  As  soon  as  he  was  out  of  the  door,"  said  Uncle  John,  "  I 
struck  for  Old  Bailey,  —  the  great  dictionary  owned  by  a  neigh- 
bor, —  across  lots,  and  before  the  boy  returned,  I  got  home,  and  as 
quick  as  he  came  in,  I  told  him,  '  I  suppose  you  thought  I  did  not 
understand  what  Incubus  meant ;  it  is  the  Nightmare  ;  I  have  had 
it  myself,  and  if  you  don't  want  to  have  it  again,  you  must  take  good 
care  and  eat  light  suppers.' " 

"  Uncle  John  "  had  sustained  his  character  for  dictionary  infalli- 
bility, and  had  turned  it  all,  as  he  thought,  to  good  account,  by  add- 
ing a  little  good  advice. 

Caasar,  the  colored  man,  comes  next  in  our  review,  and  was 
about  as  notable  for  his  attainments,  in  his  line,  as  Uncle  John 
in  his.  He  was  fond  of  figures  of  speech,  and  illustrations  of  his 
own.  In  company  with  those  that  understood  his  humor,  he  had 
occasion  to  quote  the  quaint  old  saw,  "  You  cannot  eat  your  cake 
and  have  your  cake."  He  succeeded  very  well  in  the  former  clause, 
but  in  attempting  the  latter,  his  assurance  failed  him,  as  it  had  been 
wont  to  do  in  other  instances,  much  to  the  sport  of  roguish  by- 
standers. He  had  got  as  far  as  "  Do  you  think  a  man  can  eat  his 
cake,"  and  could  go  no  further,  hesitated  a  moment,  and  with  an 
emphatic  look  bawled  out,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "The  Devil. 
Do  you  think  a  man  can  eat  his  cake  and  his  cheese  too  ?  " 

Ccesar  was  fond  of  music,  and  naturally  a  good  fiddler.     Meeting 


116  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

him  on  the  road,  Doctor  "Williams  said  to  him,  "  Caesar,  I  am  told 
you  play  your  fiddle  on  the  Sabbath  :  is  it  so  ?  "  '•'  Yes,  master," 
he  replied,  "  I  do  play  a  little,  now  and  then,  just  for  my  own  con- 


Giving  the  Devil  his  due, 
Uncle  John  and  Caesar  too, 
We  go  on  with  our  review. 

There  are  other  notable  names  in  the  group  before  me,  not  to  be 
commented  upon,  however,  according  to  their  merits :  first,  the 
names  of  Alden,  Blackman,  Baldwin,  Bushnell,  Babcock,  Bucking- 
ham, Bennet,  Backus,  Champion,  Chapel,  and  others.  Mr.  Chapel 
was  an  original. 

"  Fortune,"  he  said  to  his  negro  man,  who  was  a  counterpart  to  his 
master,  speaking  very  moderately,  and  accenting  every  syllable,  — 
"  Fortune,  you  dog,  I  have  got  a  tusk  here  that  aches  confoundedly, 
and  you  have  got  to  help  me  pull  it  out,  without  those  iron  pincers. 
Here.  This  cord,  tied  round  my  tooth,  I  'm  going  to  hook  on  to 
that  spike  yonder,  driven  into  that  beam  over  my  head.  And  now> 
Fortune,  you  dog,  when  I  Ve  got  it  fixed,  do  you  take  a  coal  of  fire 
with  these  tongs,  and  hold  it  close  to  my  nose,  and  when  it  begins 
to  burn,  I  shall  tell  you  to  take  it  away  ;  don't  you  mind  me,  you 
dog ;  but  be  quick  about  it,  and  shove  the  coal  right  up  to  my  nose, 
and  I  '11  risk  it."  As  the  story  is  told,  the  experiment  succeeded. 

"  Uncle  Josh,"  as  he  was  called,  was  a  strongly  marked  character 
of  the  day,  in  similar  singular  enterprises.  But  I  must  go  on  with 
the  catalogue.  Captain  Leech  I  well  remember,  a  large,  well-pro- 
portioned personage,  with  a  frank,  expressive  countenance,  attrac- 
tive in  his  manner ;  social  in  his  address  ;  his  voice  full  and  silver- 
toned  ;  prominent  and  eloquent  in  company ;  with  a  number  of  his 
neighbors,  all  working  together  on  the  highway.  I  once  saw  a  let- 
ter of  his.  The  chirography  was  beautiful ;  the  orthography,  of  a 
more  questionable  character.  It  was  notorious  for  unnecessary 
letters.  Some  one  rallied  him  for  poor  spelling :  "  Why,  what  was 
the  matter  with  it?"  The  answer  was,  "It  had  abundance  of  let- 
ters." "  Well,"  he  said,  "  that  was  just  as  he  meant  to  have  it.  The 
alphabet  was  free  to  everybody,  and  he  meant  to  put  in  enough 
letters,  for  every  word,  to  make  out  the  sound  he  wished ;  and  if 
others  did  not  like  his  arrangement,  they  might  suit  themselves." 

In  the  medical  profession,  I  would  mention  the  names  of  Thomas 


REMINISCENCES    OF     LEBANON.  117 

Coleman,  Pierce  Button,  and  the  two  Clarks,  all  good  names  of 
men,  to  whose  fidelity  and  skill,  for  many  years,  we  felt  indebted 
for  health  and  happiness.  "  Grace  Greenwood,"  I  suppose,  was^a 
native  of  Lebanon  ;  if  not,  her  father,  Dr.  Thaddeus  Clark,  was  ; 
and  was  there  till  middle-aged,  and  surrounded  by  a  family,  of 
which  Sarah,  alias  Grace  Greenwood,  might  have  been  one.  Dr. 
John  Clark,  her  grandfather,  one  of  the  higher  rank  in  the  group 
now  before  me,  and  my  father,  were  cousins  ;  of  course  "  Grace  " 
and  my  children  are  third-cousins.  The  tie  is  strengthened^by  the 
fact,  that  her  grandmother,  the  wife  of  the  above  Dr.  John,  was  a 
Huntington,  from  Windham,  whose  mother  was  sister  to  Merchant 
Metcalf  's  wife,  one  of  the  sixty  feet  of  daughters  (Edwards),  "royal 
blood  "  again,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  house. 

And  from  this  it  is  natural  to  turn  to  another  family  of  Lebanon 
aristocracy,  that  of  the  Robinsons.  A  sister  of  the  head  of  this 
family  was  wife  of  the  elder  Governor  Trumbull ;  the  other  was 
wife  of  Mr.  Elliot,  the  first  minister  of  Goshen.  Mr.  Robin- 
son died  when  I  was  young.  My  mother  brought  up  one  of 
his  slaves,  Tamar.  I  remember  Mr.  Robinson's  gray  head  and 
venerable  appearance,  in  the  corner  of  the  pew  of  the  old  church, 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  front  door ;  in  prayer-time  he  always 
stood  with  the  cushion  under  his  elbows.  The  elder  of  his  two 
sons,  William,  was  minister  of  Southington,  Conn.  He  was  a 
favorite  in  the  desk.  His  outward  man  every  way  calculated  to 
attract  attention,  his  sermons  delivered  memoriter,  with  great  sim- 
plicity of  manner,  his  eyes  and  cheeks  suffused  with  tears  of  ten- 
derness and  love,  his  voice  and  manner  in  keeping  with  everything 
persuasive,  —  what  he  said  could  not  fail  to  commend  itself  to 
every  man's  conscience.  Out  of  the  pulpit,  without  letting  himself 
down,  as  to  a  truly  religious  character,  he  showed  a  readiness  and 
comprehension  of  mind  on  common  subjects,  that  made  his  opinions 
uncommonly  valuable.  With  the  natural  gifts  of  a  discerning 
financier,  he  became  rich  upon  a  moderate  salary,  and,  by  those 
who  knew  him  well,  was  highly  respected  and  loved,  both  as  a  man 
and  a  minister.  He  has  a  son,  a  distinguished  scholar,  traveller, 
and  professor,  in  New  York. 

I  have,  till  lately,  supposed  the  Robinsons  of  Lebanon  were 
descendants  of  John  Robinson  of  Leyden,  the  pastor  of  the  Pil- 
grims. From  thorough  inquiry  of  late,  I  am  persuaded  I  have 
been  mistaken,  and  must  give  it  up.  They  are  nearly  related; 


118  NOTES    TO    SERMONS. 

probably  the  descendants  of  a  brother.  The  sermon  of  Dr.  Lam- 
son,  of  Dedham,  Mass.,  on  the  subject,  is  well  worth  reading. 

I  go  on,  now,  to  the  northern  extremities  of  the  town,  bounded 
north  and  west  by  the  bold  heights  of  the  Wonnegunset ;  by  Ob- 
wibicot,  east ;  leaving  the  Crank,  now  called  Columbia,  entirely 
out  of  view  in  what  I  write,  from  the  want  of  a  more  thorough 
acquaintance,  writing,  as  I  do,  principally  from  the  reminiscences 
of  a  youth  under  the  age  of  twenty.  It  was  at  this  period  of  my 
life,  that  the  institution  already  mentioned,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  TVheelocks,  at  Columbia,  was  removed  to  Hanover,  N.  H. 

On  the  southern  slopes  of  these  heights,  from  the  TVillimantic, 
westward  for  miles,  lie  ample,  well-cultivated  farms,  of  every 
variety  as  to  surface  and  tillage,  and  well  husbanded  by  their  in- 
dependent owners,  well  defended  with  stone-walls,  and  intersected 
with  convenient  roads.  The  inhabitants  were  principally  in  three 
neighborhoods.  They  had  among  them  the  goodly  names  of  Swift, 
Tilden,  Tiffany,  Caulkins,  Martin,  Kewcomb,  Baldwin,  some  of 
whom  led  off  their  colonies  to  distant  and  flourishing  settlements. 
One,  by  the  name  of  Cushman,  a  professional  character,  and  a 
seventh  son,  Polycarpus,  went,  a  pedestrian,  with  his  saddle-bags 
well  stuffed  with  Materia  Medico,  swung  over  his  shoulders,  and 
settled  down  at  Bernardston,  Mass.,  and  has  given  to  the  Common- 
wealth a  Lieutenant-Governor  ;  with  a  neighbor  at  his  side,  from 
the  same  place,  who  has  given  to  the  same  several  of  its  jurists 
and  justices,  Newcomb  by  name. 

On  "  Kick  Hill "  Lawyer  Tisdale  and  his  family  were  promi- 
nent ;  and  from  the  oldest  to  the  youngest  were  eminently  attrac- 
tive. Genius  seemed  to  be  generally  diffused  in  them  with  appro- 
priate benignity  and  dignity.  Farmers,  in  those  days,  generally 
had  a  trade  in  connection  with  a  farm.  The  lawyer's  father  was, 
by  trade,  a  tanner,  and  the  two  families  lived  harmoniously  together. 
The  lawyer  had  his  share  of  public  business,  and  was  often  com- 
petitor with  Colonel  "Williams  for  a  seat  in  the  legislature,  which 
then  fell  to  the  lot  of  but  a  very  few. 

Captain  Vaughn  was  more  than  six  feet  high,  and  every  way  well 
proportioned.  His  teeth  were  like  marble,  and  those  in  front  (how- 
ever it  might  have  been  with  the  others)  were  all  double,  beauti- 
fully sound  and  symmetrical.  It  was  currently  reported  of  him, 
that,  taking  a  hogshead  by  the  bung  between  his  teeth,  he  could 
throw  it  back  over  his  head.  C'redat  Apetta.  He  was  a  ready 


REMINISCENCES    OF    LEBANON.  119 

wit  wherever  he  was,  and  was  sure  of  having  the  attention  of  those 
around  him.  In  removing  his  family  on  runners,  too  late  in  the 
winter  for  good  sledding,  to  a  place  at  some  distance,  it  was  more 
like  him,  learning  from  those  he  met  that  there  was  snow  in  plenty 
ahead,  to  offer  half  a  dollar  per  bushel  to  cover  the  bare  ground 
around  him,  and  take  courage,  in  good  spirits,  than  to  stop  and  turn 
about,  without  making  the  trial. 

Being  now  in  a  part  of  the  town  remote  from  my  own  neighbor- 
hood, I  recollect  nothing  worthy  of  particular  attention,  or  if  other- 
wise, there  is  nothing  better  than  the  good  old  rule,  De  mortuis, 
nihil  nisi  bonum. 

It  seems  to  me  a  singular  fact,  from  the  uncommon  number  of 
ancient  worthies  of  the  town,  that  there  are  so  few  of  their  names 
remaining  in  the  place  of  their  former  residence. 

In  the  right  enjoyment  of  the  resources  vouchsafed  to  them  by 
Providence,  may  those  following  on,  in  co-operation  with  those  who 
have  gone  before,  in  the  way  of  well-doing,  erect  an  example  that 
shall  be  for  a  name  and  a  praise  in  all  succeeding  time. 

And  now,  commending  you  to  Him  who  is  able  to  keep  you,  and 
to  present  us  all,  with  the  beloved  and  blessed  ones  who  have  gone 
before,  "  in  his  presence  with  exceeding  joy,"  I  am,  my  dear  chil- 
dren, most  affectionately  yours, 

DAN  HUNTINGTON. 


THE    END. 


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